Canada to reopen borders to nonessential travel- first to Americans

[Bruce]

A tentative agreement has been reached between the union and CBSA after only a few hours of strike action.

Some highlights of the border backups:

https://twitter.com/wsdot_traffic/status/1423763837128302593

https://twitter.com/Asmodeus_Lucem/status/1423807211608870912

[Roadgeekteen]

So the border is on track to open on Monday?

[stevashe]

So the border is on track to open on Monday?

Yes, according to this article I just read: https://bangordailynews.com/2021/08/07/news/canada-border-employees-reach-deal-with-government-preventing-reopening-delays/

Near the bottom of the article:

Despite an increase in COVID-19 cases in the U.S. and concerns regarding the Delta variant, Canada's Aug. 9 reopening date is still on track, Canadian Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam confirmed in a press conference held on Thursday.

[ghYHZ]

The land border is still going to be a mess on Monday. Watching a couple of news reports......there's a lot of people that just haven't looked at the requirements such as the pre-arrival testing, fully vaccinated for 14 days and uploading all that information to the ArriveCAN App before you get to the border. Then there's those Canadians that think it's open southbound too and are just going to get turned around and sent back by US CBP.....adding to the line-up.

[Rothman]

The land border is still going to be a mess on Monday. Watching a couple of news reports......there's a lot of people that just haven't looked at the requirements such as the pre-arrival testing, fully vaccinated for 14 days and uploading all that information to the ArriveCAN App before you get to the border. Then there's those Canadians that think it's open southbound too and are just going to get turned around and sent back by US CBP.....adding to the line-up.

The "work to rule" union action didn't help things, either, but have to say I sided with the union on that one.

[SkyPesos]

The truck queues at the Canada border remind me of people camping at Micro Centers days ahead of launch day to buy RTX 3000 series GPUs.

[vdeane]

So the border is on track to open on Monday?

There were no plans to delay the reopening due to the strike.  Had the strike continued, people would have just had to wait in long lines.

Most of them are essential employees, so they aren't allowed to just walk out.  It's not like the border shut down when they were on strike.  Instead, they were painstakingly checking everything to the max, drawing everything out.  The reason why "work to rule" works as a strike tactic is because rules are inevitably written in a way that following them to the letter is impractical in the real world.  Thus, they strike by actually following them to the letter, and letting all hell break loose as a result.

[ozarkman417]

The border has been opened to vaccinated Americans, who, closer to the time of opening, needed to wait for as much as seven hours in some places/times, according to Business Insider. Some three weeks ago, I cancelled my trip to Washington State and Victoria, BC mentioned in the OP.

[Rothman]

The border has been opened to vaccinated Americans, who are willing to wait for as much as seven hours in some places/times, according to Business Insider. Some three weeks ago, I cancelled my trip to Washington State and Victoria, BC mentioned in the OP.

Current delays for non-commercial to Canada:

Calais: 45 min.
T.I. Bridge: 10 min.
Q-L Bridge: 2 min.
Rainbow: 5 min.
Peace: 6 min.
Abbotsford/Sumas: 5 min.

All others: No delay.

[ozarkman417]

Here is the article I mentioned in my above post https://www.businessinsider.com/pictures-long-lines-to-canada-border-reopens-travel-ban-lifts-2021-8

This supposed seven hour wait was at International Falls. If I did pursue my trip, my crossing point would have been the Peace Arch point of entry.

[Rothman]

Here is the article I mentioned in my above post https://www.businessinsider.com/pictures-long-lines-to-canada-border-reopens-travel-ban-lifts-2021-8

This supposed seven hour wait was at International Falls. If I did pursue my trip, my crossing point would have been the Peace Arch point of entry.

Current wait time, U.S. to Canada, International Falls:  None, for all traffic.

All per CBSA.

[ozarkman417]

I have the wait times pulled up here as I've been typing: https://travel.gc.ca/returning/border-times. As expected, the opening rush is over, as over 36 hours have passed. In my earlier post, I erroneously referred to the present tense (pasting the message I meant to post the other night until my internet went down for two days). The B.I. article says this about International Falls on a normal day, which as of right now appears to be true:

Fort Frances, Ontario, and International Falls, Minnesota – an area that the site [CBSA] said "rarely experiences delays".

Of course, August 9th wasn't exactly a 'normal day' at the world's largest land border.

My initial thought when seeing how delayed the lines were at first, I was thinking to myself: "Sure glad I cancelled my trip", though my entry would have been about 24 hours after me typing this, so I would have been good to go (I did my research on how to get in to the country).

[stevashe]

If I did pursue my trip, my crossing point would have been the Peace Arch point of entry.

My initial thought when seeing how delayed the lines were at first, I was thinking to myself: "Sure glad I cancelled my trip", though my entry would have been about 24 hours after me typing this, so I would have been good to go (I did my research on how to get in to the country).

The longest wait time I saw at the Peace Arch on August 9th was 25 minutes, which is considerably less than the usual peak delay was on busy summer days pre-pandemic. The cameras didn't even show the line backing up beyond the customs plaza. Needless to say any fears of a delay on your trip were unfounded.

[zzcarp]

My dad is heading for the Sault Ste Marie crossing tomorrow afternoon. He just received his negative test results and is uploading this as the last of the information to the ArriveCAN app.

On Monday, the Sault was one of the longer wait times at 3 hours in the afternoon. Today it was back down to no waiting.

I'll pass on anything interesting my dad experiences when crossing tomorrow.

I'll be heading that way on August 21.

[stevashe]

I'll pass on anything interesting my dad experiences when crossing tomorrow.

I'll be heading that way on August 21.

I'd be interested to know if they actually ask about the quarantine plan of if it's basically a non-issue.

[KEK Inc.]

I went to Vancouver, BC, on Monday.  I did wait about an hour at Peace Arch.

I had a quarantine plan on the app, but the border patrol agent never asked or even looked at the app.  We just showed our passport, CDC vaccination card, and a negative test I had from Friday. 

Returned the same day at around midnight.  As usual, I always get a dick US border patrol agent.   He was bored and searched our vehicle and said that an orange that we brought from Seattle (that we did declare to Canadian BP) could 'cost us dearly' next time. 

[kkt]

I went to Vancouver, BC, on Monday.  I did wait about an hour at Peace Arch.

I had a quarantine plan on the app, but the border patrol agent never asked or even looked at the app.  We just showed our passport, CDC vaccination card, and a negative test I had from Friday. 

Returned the same day at around midnight.  As usual, I always get a dick US border patrol agent.   He was bored and searched our vehicle and said that an orange that we brought from Seattle (that we did declare to Canadian BP) could 'cost us dearly' next time. 

Thank you for the report!  That doesn't sound bad at all.  Where did you get your Covid test?

[KEK Inc.]

I went to Vancouver, BC, on Monday.  I did wait about an hour at Peace Arch.

I had a quarantine plan on the app, but the border patrol agent never asked or even looked at the app.  We just showed our passport, CDC vaccination card, and a negative test I had from Friday. 

Returned the same day at around midnight.  As usual, I always get a dick US border patrol agent.   He was bored and searched our vehicle and said that an orange that we brought from Seattle (that we did declare to Canadian BP) could 'cost us dearly' next time. 

Thank you for the report!  That doesn't sound bad at all.  Where did you get your Covid test?

The covid test site on Aurora.  Did it after work on Friday.  It is one of the approved testing methods.  Make sure you do it within 72 hours of crossing the border.  Fortunately, it's now a self-issue test to pick your nose; no more sadistic nurse picking your brain. 

I was vaccinated in March, and I've been going bouldering and clubbing regularly so I'm surprised I tested negative.



Had a crazy weekend.  Camped near Sequim on Saturday.  Sunday, did a 17 mile hike in the Olympics.  Took the last ferry to Seattle. 

Woke up at 5 am on Monday to go to the border.  Did a hike/climb in Squamish and spent the evening in Vancouver.  Crossed back into Blaine around midnight and had a tiring day at work today.   







iPhone

[jakeroot]

My girlfriend and I have a COVID test scheduled for this Friday morning at the Boeing Facility in Auburn, in preparation for our crossing Sunday, 15 August.

The covid test site on Aurora.  Did it after work on Friday.  It is one of the approved testing methods.  Make sure you do it within 72 hours of crossing the border.

How quickly did your results come in? We specifically scheduled the test to allow 48 hours for results.

[KEK Inc.]

My girlfriend and I have a COVID test scheduled for this Friday morning at the Boeing Facility in Auburn, in preparation for our crossing Sunday, 15 August.

The covid test site on Aurora.  Did it after work on Friday.  It is one of the approved testing methods.  Make sure you do it within 72 hours of crossing the border.

How quickly did your results come in? We specifically scheduled the test to allow 48 hours for results.

Literally Saturday morning.  And I got tested right before they closed on Friday on my way to a party lol.


iPhone

[Evan_Th]

I had a quarantine plan on the app, but the border patrol agent never asked or even looked at the app.  We just showed our passport, CDC vaccination card, and a negative test I had from Friday. 

What'd you put as your quarantine plan?  I'm toying with the idea of heading to Canada, but I'm not sure what I could say except "head back to the US" or "book a hotel room."

[ozarkman417]

Before I cancelled my trip, the quarantine plan that I came up with was this: "I'll be back at my place of residence in the US within 48 hours from now". Also, I found a place to get a PCR test in Seattle and planned on getting my test there on the morning of the 9th then head out to some other part of Washington for a couple days before entering Canada, which would have been around the time I'm typing this.

[Alps]

I had a quarantine plan on the app, but the border patrol agent never asked or even looked at the app.  We just showed our passport, CDC vaccination card, and a negative test I had from Friday. 

What'd you put as your quarantine plan?  I'm toying with the idea of heading to Canada, but I'm not sure what I could say except "head back to the US" or "book a hotel room."

In ArriveCAN you can't put "returning home" as an option without it making you give a Canadian address, so you essentially have to put the next hotel you plan to stay at.

[KEK Inc.]

I had a quarantine plan on the app, but the border patrol agent never asked or even looked at the app.  We just showed our passport, CDC vaccination card, and a negative test I had from Friday. 

What'd you put as your quarantine plan?  I'm toying with the idea of heading to Canada, but I'm not sure what I could say except "head back to the US" or "book a hotel room."

I have friends in Vancouver, but I put a hotel on the app.  The border patrol agent never asked to see the app or the confirmation code for it; though my data may have been linked to my passport.

[kkt]

So if I'm planning a day trip with no hotel involved and returning to my home in Seattle what could I put as a quarantine plan?