Communities on both sides of the border continue to call on the Canadian government to eliminate the PCR testing requirement for fully vaccinated travellers.
The US border reopened to vaccinated Canadians Monday morning, but the Canadian government still requires anyone entering the country to take a PCR test with 72 hours of crossing.
“We will see a significant uptick in economic activity, but we’re still doing it with one hand tied behind our back with this redundant, unnecessary testing requirement,” said New York State Congressman Brian Higgins. “Pre-pandemic, 2019, 21 million Canadians travelled to the United States in that year, and they spent $21 billion, we have lost much of that during this pandemic.”
During a virtual news conference Monday morning, US and Canadian mayors, along with representatives from the travel and tourism industry, said this requirement is cost-prohibitive.
"This PCR test requirement is a hard stop barrier for families to reunite except for the wealthiest of Canadians, and that is unfair," said Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens.
The mayors from Windsor, Sarnia, and Niagara are hopeful the Canadian government will take a look at the science and reevaluate its stance before November 21.
"The current system would allow someone to take a PCR test in Canada, cross into Detroit to cheer on the Lions with 65,000 other fans in the stadium and then return to Canada using the test they took before leaving. How is that test of any use to anyone about the nature of one's activities and the risk that they were exposed to?" posed Dilkens.
The border city mayors say this unscientific approach is costing businesses millions of dollars and keeping families separated.
"Eliminating the testing to return to Canada by Canadians is a matter of fairness and doesn’t endanger public health in Canada, according to experts. The Federal Government needs to do the right thing on the road back to recovery and normalcy and eliminate the testing," said Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley.
