Trudeau Suggests Border May Not Open For a Few Weeks

Canadians may need to wait a few weeks for the border to open more widely, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau suggested on Wednesday.

Speaking to reporters in Gaspe, Quebec, Trudeau said nobody wants to see things open too fast and then be forced into going backwards and risking a fourth wave of COVID-19 just for the sake of "a few weeks."

"We are not through this pandemic yet," he told reporters at a press event. "We still have to be careful."

"We will be cautious and responsible and take things step by step."

The current border closure agreement with the U.S. expires on July 21.

"We'll be making announcements about the next phases and next steps," Trudeau said. But he didn't offer any details or timelines, except to say changes will be made "in due course, and in a responsible way."

"As eager as people are to open up, I know nobody wants to have to go backwards," the PM said. "The reality is we know how unbelievably costly and heartbreaking it would be to fall into a fourth wave of this pandemic. We are going to make sure that we don't do that."

There has been considerable pressure to let fully vaccinated Americans and other foreign residents into Canada, but a published report in the Toronto Star on Wednesday said sources suggested onl small tweaks will be announced between now and July 21.

There also are reports in the U.S. that travel officials south of the border don't expect any changes until August.

Trudeau recently said Canada won't open its border to unvaccinated visitors for quite some time, but that Ottawa is working on a plan to allow foreign visitors to come to Canada if they've had two approved vaccine doses. He said such a plan would be coming within weeks, not months.

As of July 5, fully vaccinated Canadians and permanent residents, as well as foreign residents with the legal right to enter the country, including some family members, can arrive and skip quarantine if they've had two vaccine doses. Others, however, still have to undergo a 14-day quarantine upon arrival. Those coming into Canada by air also have to arrange a three-day stay at an official quarantine hotel.

Business leaders from Montréal and the Canadian Travel and Tourism Roundtable on Wednesday asked the federal government to re-open Canada to fully vaccinated international travellers. A group of midwestern U.S. states made the same demand.

The government of France this week also said it wants to see the Canadian border open to French citizens.

So far, those arguments appear to be falling on deaf eas.

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