NORTH PORTAL - The small border town community of North Portal experienced some shifts to their internationally-oriented lifestyle after Canada and the U.S. stopped all non-essential international travel, and not much has changed ever since.
As of Aug. 9, after almost 17 months Canada, re-opened its border for fully vaccinated Americans, however, North Portal Mayor Kaylah Turner said there are still too many obstacles that prevent their community from returning to pre-pandemic normal.
"There hasn't really been much of a change. I haven't spoken to the Duty-Free to see if there have been any people coming through more often, but as far as visiting and stuff like that, I don't think anybody's even really been over yet," Turner said in the interview with the Mercury last week.
Highway 39, which turns into Highway 52 on the American side, is going through town, and it's hard to judge if there's been an increase in traffic in general. But some vital community organizations, such as the Getaway Cities Golf Club, located on both Canadian and American land, as well as North Portal Duty-Free Shop that depends on international travellers, haven't seen much change so far.
Turner believes that Americans are in no rush to get back to their day trips to Canada because even though the quarantine requirements have been lifted, it's still pretty complicated to cross the border.
"For somebody to come across, they still have to get tested and potentially do quarantine and stuff like that. So just for a quick trip across the border, I don't think that has really increased," Turner said.
The international golf course has been working through the summer, but they still can't use the clubhouse, which has to be operated by the U.S. staff, and Turner said that for them to come across is not worthwhile right now.
She personally hasn't seen her American friends yet either.
"We have to make it worth their while to go through all of the processes," Turner said. "Until that goes away, my guess is we probably won't be seeing quick trips from our American neighbours anytime soon."
Once the American border re-opens for Canadians making non-essential trips, Turner assumes there might be more people travelling to bigger centres like Minot for a couple of days at a time. But she doesn't expect to see much happening in their community.
"I think with having to get the test done, it's still a hindrance for people wanting to cross," Turner said.
And while North Portal was somewhat affected by the border closure, Turner said the community has adjusted well.
"We're such a small community, so everybody hangs around here anyway. So other than not getting to see our American friends and family, nothing's really changed too much. We're a pretty slow-moving little village, so it feels fairly similar," Turner said.
