CANADA/USA. Frontier Duty Free Association Executive Director Barbara Barrett has visited Toronto this week to call on the Canadian government to open its border with the US. She was in the Ontario capital in support of the Tourism Industry Association of Canada’s (TIAC) new #OpenTheBorder campaign.
As things stand, borders between the two countries will not open until 22 June at the earliest, with the next deadline for a decision on reopening due 21 June. The US and Canada have agreed to repeated monthly extensions of the border closure across the last 15 months.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau acknowledged on Tuesday that the country’s accelerating vaccination rate will allow for the easing of COVID-19 restrictions “in the coming days and months”.
TIAC’s new campaign focuses on getting Canadian decision-makers to acknowledge the urgent need and to commit to a date to open the border, before the summer tourism season is lost.
TIAC President and CEO Beth Potter said: “Medical experts are telling us that we are winning the battle with COVID. With vaccinations rising and case numbers going down, we must now pivot to more forward-thinking policies, and talk about safely reopening the border, ending the extreme financial crush that has flattened the tourism industry and devastated the tourism economy in Canada.”
She added: “As Canada and the US return to normal, we must prepare to open the border quickly and safely, and restart our tourism economy.”
