Canada will
be opening its borders for fully vaccinated US citizens and permanent residents,
letting them in for non-essential travel from August 9 without any quarantine
requirements, the Canadian government announced on Monday.

After this,
Canada will reopen its borders to all vaccinated foreign travelers from
September 7.

The
US-Canadian land border, which is the world’s longest, and the air border have
been closed to non-essential travel since mid-March 2020 due to the ongoing
coronavirus pandemic.

“On
August 9, a number of important changes at the border will come into effect, to
allow fully vaccinated United States citizens and permanent residents who are
currently residing in the United States to enter Canada for non-essential
purposes,”  AFP quoted Canadian Health
Minister Patty Hadju is saying.

Vaccinated
Americans and permanent US residents — and eventually, other foreign travelers
— will be required to have had their full course of doses of a vaccine
approved by Canadian authorities at least 14 days before arrival, and they will
be subject to “testing as required,” the health ministry said.

Those
travelers should also be asymptomatic on arrival.

Pressure
had been rising on the government from the ailing tourism sector to ease travel
restrictions, but Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his administration did not
want to jeopardize progress on the home front in curtailing the spread of COVID-19.

Earlier
this month, Canada jettisoned the quarantine requirements for its own fully
vaccinated citizens and permanent residents returning from abroad.

At the
White House, press secretary Jen Psaki said Monday that for the time being, the
US government was “continuing to review” its travel restrictions and
would follow the guidance of its own medical experts.

Thus far,
the border closure had been renewed monthly by mutual agreement between Ottawa
and Washington.

According
to Canadian government data released on Monday, 75% of those living in Canada have
had at least one dose of coronavirus vaccine. Half are fully vaccinated.