Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has revealed that the federal government has no intention of reopening the Canada-U.S. border anytime soon.
The land border between the two countries has been closed to non-essential travel since the onset of the pandemic back in March and, although there has been speculation that the border won’t reopen for a while, Trudeau seemed to confirmed that on Wednesday.
In an interview with a Winnipeg radio station, the prime minister said he intends to keep the border closed in order to protect the safety of Canadians.
“We have committed to keeping Canadians safe and we keep extending the border closures because the States is not in a place where we would feel comfortable reopening those borders,” Trudeau told the Winnipeg radio station.
“We will continue to make sure that Canadian safety is top of mind when we move forward. We see the cases in the United States and elsewhere around the world, and we need to continue to keep these border controls in place,” he added.
The current agreement is slated to expire on October 21, but the expectation is that will be renewed in the coming week.
Canada has seen a recent rise in cases, but it is nowhere close to the numbers south of the border.
Canada has reported a total of nearly 190,000 cases and more than 9,500 deaths from the coronavirus.
The United States, on the other hand, has experienced nearly eight million COVID-19 cases and reported more than 215,000 deaths.
The tourism sector in Canada has been hit particularly hard as a result of border closures, however, Trudeau says the federal government intends to promote the country as a safe destination for international travel once the pandemic subsides.
Graham Cox
