Coronavirus: Canada, U.S. border to temporarily close to non-essential traffic
Posted March 18, 2020 9:49 am.
Last Updated March 18, 2020 6:23 pm.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has confirmed that the Canada-U.S. border will be closed by mutual consent to non-essential traffic.
Trump originally disclosed the news on Twitter with Trudeau’s announcement coming shortly after.
Trudeau said the border is expected to close very soon, but did not give an exact timeline.
He says travellers will not be able to cross the border for recreation and tourism.
“In both our countries, we’re encouraging people to stay home; we’re telling our citizens not to visit their neighbours unless they absolutely have to. This collaborative and reciprocal measure is an extension of that prudent approach.”
Essential travel will be allowed to continue to preserve critical supply chains, he added, which means trucks will continue to cross the border to deliver food, fuel and medicine, and essential workers like health-care professionals who live and work on opposite sides will also be permitted to cross.
Premier Doug Ford called the decision to close the border “a tough, but necessary one,” in a tweet following the announcement.
“Thank you to all the truckers working around the clock to fill our stores, those in logistics, to those stocking our shelves and those checking our purchases out. Thank you to everyone keeping our economy moving during these unprecedented times,” read a statement on Twitter.
Government officials also say exemptions will remain in place to ensure Canadians who are now in the United States are able to return home.
Both sides have been in talks on how to limit travel in both directions across the border without restricting the all-important flow of trade and commerce between the two countries at a time when the global economy is under severe pressure.
Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland says nearly 200,000 people cross the Canada-U.S. border every day, and many of them are vitally important to the health and economic welfare of both countries.
Watch: What ban on non-essential travel could mean for border towns
