Travellers flock across border as Canada reopens to vaccinated travellers

• Travellers flock to cross the US-Canada border for the first time in 17 months, as Canada re-opens to fully vaccinated Americans
• Wait times at several crossings reportedly dragged out to seven hours at some crossings in Ontario and Minnesota
• In 2019, Canada welcomed 22.1 million tourists, with 14.99 million of those coming from the United States
• Other international travellers will be able to visit Canada from other countries from early next month

Canada has re-opened its border to fully vaccinated American travellers on Monday, for the first time since March 2020.

It comes at a time when the US is experiencing a six-month peak in new cases of COVID-19 and last week recorded 730,000 new cases.

As well as full vaccination, travellers making the most of the new non-essential travel provisions will also need to have a pre-arrival COVID-19 molecular test.

Beginning today, U.S. citizens and permanent residents fully vaccinated with @GovCanHealth approved #Covid19 vaccines may be eligible to enter Canada for discretionary (non-essential) travel.

Learn more ➡️ https://t.co/7ruUQfPjMP pic.twitter.com/jC0dGpfHeI

— Canada Border Services Agency (@CanBorder) August 9, 2021

Wait times reportedly dragged out to seven hours at some crossings in Ontario and Minnesota.

In 2019, Canada welcomed 22.1 million tourists, with 14.99 million of those coming from the United States.

Travellers from other countries will also be able to visit Canada from early September.