'It’s been very different without you folks': Residents, businesses welcome new border rules

A lineup of vehicles crossing the Ferry Point Bridge in each direction between St. Stephen, N.B. and Calais, Maine was a welcomed sight for many on Friday.

“It’s good to see a lineup on the border,” said Ken Nordstrom, one Canadian resident who made an early morning trip stateside to celebrate the Canadian government’s removal of pre-entry testing requirements for fully vaccinated travellers.

“It’s just one less hurdle,” said Canadian resident Karen Webber, who coordinated her arrival back in Canada to match the rule change after an extended U.S. trip.

Businesses in Calais immediately felt the impact of Canadians making their American return.

“We’ve had them in all morning,” said David Johnson, owner of Johnson’s True Value. “It’s been very different without you folks and we’ve all felt it in our businesses.”

One employee at the Calais Wal-Mart marked the milestone Friday by wearing a red-and-white, maple leaf patterned suit.

“I was just talking to staff at Marden’s here in Calais and they’ve been really hurting because of the fact that it was complicated for people, from just across (the border), a mile, to come,” said Webber. “So they seem quite pleased that we’re back.”

The federal government announced the removal of pre-arrival testing for fully vaccinated travellers two weeks ago. Which was a long time coming for some, and much ado about nothing for others.

Travellers who aren’t vaccinated, or are partially vaccinated, are still required to carry out COVID-19 testing before arriving at the border.

All travellers must continue to have their vaccination status and other information submitted to the federal government’s ArriveCAN app, with the app readily available once arriving at customs.

The federal government says any traveller may be selected at random for a COVID-19 test, but won’t be required to isolate before results are known.

In late 2021, rules changed to allow fully vaccinated Canadians to visit the U.S. and return without providing a negative COVID-19 PCR test so long as they were out of the country for 72 hours or less.

The testing requirement was reinstated about a month later due to surging COVID-19 case counts from the Omicron variant.

The new rules that came into effect on Friday have no time limitations.

“I hope it stays this way and I hope eventually they’ll take the ArriveCAN away too,” said Canadian resident Carolyn Willis.

For now, the federal government says travellers who arrive without ArriveCAN information submitted may have to test at the border and isolate for 14 days, regardless of whether they’re vaccinated or unvaccinated.