The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) has announced that it will proceed with the resumption of service at various small marine ports and ferry terminals across the country, including ones on Vancouver Island.
According to the CBSA, the marine border between British Columbia and Washington State will reopen on September 7.
The announcement from the CBSA comes a few weeks after new public health measures were deployed which allows fully vaccinated United States (U.S.) citizens to travel north of the border to Canada.
“It’s terrific to see this announcement today creating certainty around the re-opening of the marine border so that fully vaccinated Americans can make plans to visit Victoria,” said Lisa Helps, Mayor of Victoria.
The announcement means that the Belleville Terminal, Blackball terminal, and Washington State Ferry Terminal, among others, will be able to operate and fully vaccinated visitors from the United States will be able to travel to Vancouver Island through marine borders.
“The Belleville Terminal is an important entryway to the region and a key engine of the region’s economy. The Coho and Clipper are critical links for Victorians with our neighbours to the south and we look forward to this long-standing border crossing being reopened,” added Helps in a statement on Tuesday.
“It’s a long anticipated day and we’re really happy to have a solid date that we can plan to,” said David Gudgel, the CEO of Clipper Navigation.
He explained that service will look a bit different for the Clipper, with one departure a day from Seattle Fridays through Mondays.
“Part of our economy is tourist driven and it’s really important for people to come directly from Washington state right into downtown,” Helps told CHEK News.
The announcement comes as the province is tightening up safety measures around COVID-19 with an indoor mandatory mask order.
“I think the federal and provincial governments are taking the necessary precautions. I don’t expect to see the borders to close again. I certainly hope that they don’t again with high vaccination rates at both sides,” said Helps.
In the meantime, operations for Clipper Navigation are set to resume September 17.
“Everybody on that vessel will have a negative PCR test and will have been vaccinated,” said Gudgel.
But not all ferry operators are on the same boat, saying it’s still a one way ticket.
“It’s one piece in the puzzle,” said Ryan Burles, the CEO of Black Ball Ferry Line. “With us, we’ve said that unless the south border opens, until the U.S. opens to Canadians, we’re not going to operate.”
Helps attributes today’s announcement from the CBSA to the 13 mayors in the region and the Songhees and Esquimalt Nations Chiefs coming together and advocating for the opening of the marine border “in a coordinated way.”
“It is because of this kind of collaboration that our region is strong and our regional economy is well-poised for recovery,” said Helps.
The CBSA outlines that travellers eligible to enter Canada continue to be required to have a negative pre-arrival COVID-19 molecular test result taken no more than 72 hours before arriving in Canada or a previous positive test result taken between 14 and 180 days before departure to Canada.
The marine borders have remained closed since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic back in March 2020.
Tahmina Aziz
