WOODBURY, Minn. — After nearly a year and a half, Americans may once again travel across the Canadian border with proof of vaccination against COVID-19. A negative test from within 72 hours of arrival is also required.
"The last 18 months have shown that, working together, Canada and the United States can preserve the vital and integrated trade and economic relationships so essential to our prosperity, health and security, while doing everything in our power to protect our people from the devastating impacts of a global pandemic," said Consul General of Canada, Ariel Delouya, whose consulate office is based in Minneapolis. "We look forward to continued progress, on both sides of the border, towards a pre-pandemic return to normality.”
Those who choose to drive to the border at International Falls, Minnesota, can expect to wait in a long line of cars. A KARE 11 crew waited for around seven hours to get into Fort Frances, Ontario, when the border reopened Monday.
Ted Blank is a luxury travel adviser with Travel Leaders located in Maple Grove and Woodbury. Blank says Canada is normally a popular destination but pandemic restrictions forced clients to cancel or rebook their trips this and last year.
"As an agency we send several thousand people to Canada every year and over the last year it's probably been less than a dozen," Blank said.
According to the Metropolitan Airports Commission, up until this point of the pandemic, direct flights from MSP Airport to Toronto, Vancouver and Winnipeg were on hold, while flights to Calgary continued solely for Canadians and essential workers.
Now that the border is back open for tourists, here's what to expect when traveling by flight:
Air Canada
- Minneapolis-Toronto services resume Sept. 7, with seven flights per week.
"The easing of travel restrictions is an important step based on science, and we are very pleased to rebuild our Canada-U.S. network," said Mark Galardo, senior vice president of network planning and revenue management. "Our schedule also enables convenient onward travel through our Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal hubs to and from our global destinations. We are planning to restore services to all 57 U.S. destinations previously served as conditions allow. We sincerely look forward to welcoming our customers onboard."
Delta Airlines
- Flights from Minneapolis to Calgary will increase from once daily to twice daily beginning Sept. 13.
- Daily flights to Winnipeg resume Sept. 13.
- Services to Vancouver and Toronto are tentatively set to return Spring 2022.
The border is open, so why the wait?
The airlines say several factors go into making the decision of bringing back flights, including rehiring crews, resources and market demand -- the time it takes to schedule and fill flights.
Blank says to keep in mind that while Americans can now go to and from Canada, Canadians can't come and go to the U.S.
"I think once the reciprocity gets established, I think we'll see a lot of the flights and trains and things like that that were canceled start to return," he said.
He anticipates American passengers will want to book trips for 2022 and 2023 but says they might run into roadblocks.
"Folks who are waiting to plan a trip to Canada and waited until now are a little bit late," Blank said. "They're going to find that a lot of things in 2022 even 2023 are sold out or full. So if it's a place you want to go, definitely plan now."