Quiet day at Woodstock, N.B., border crossing

WOODSTOCK, N.B. -

It was a quiet reopening for the U.S.-Canadian border near Woodstock, N.B.

"Florida, and we usually go there for the winter," said snowbird Shirley Saunders, as they made their last stop in New Brunswick at the duty free store before heading south.

The Woodstock Duty Free Shop near Canadian customs was closed for nearly 18 months of the pandemic, and reopened Sept. 5.

"For us, the negative is short-term travellers, there's no particular value for them to travel right now, everybody's concerned about the requirement for the PCR test with Canada customs within 72 hours, it kind of negates the whole point of a weekend trip," said John Slipp, president of the Woodstock Duty Free Shop.

Weekend trips are what many residents of neighbouring communities on the Canadian side would like to take.

Woodstock is on the border with Houlton, Maine, and Woodstock Mayor Arthur Slipp says the current restrictions on the border opening aren't encouraging for Canadian residents.

"Well, it's been very, very difficult particularly for family, we have a lot of people that like to go just for day trips and one of the big jokes is we like to get our turkeys and a little bit of milk. Those are a lot of things that take a lot of Woodstock and Carleton County residents over  to Aroostook County, Maine," said Arthur Slipp.

Slipp says it's not affecting snowbirds who go for long trips, but for those who want to visit their family in the next community, the cost is prohibitive.

PCR tests can cost hundreds of dollars and are required for border crossing.

"We'd like to, but I don't feel we want to pay the fee for coming back. I like going to Bangor and Christmas shopping and visit with relatives and stuff like that, so hoping they make changes somehow," said Shirley Hughes, a resident of Woodstock.  

"Yeah we used to go over like once a week to get gas and stuff like that, but now I'm just going to hang here and shop local," said Woodstock resident Myles Dymond.

"I haven't crossed the border for two-and-a-half years probably at this point, I don't really think about it much day-to-day," said Woodstock resident Julie Craig.

Back at the duty free store, John Slipp says he's looking forward to when PCR tests are not required for visitors to cross between countries and his business can pick back up.