For the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, I ventured south of the Canada-U.S. border on the weekend.
It was a quick jaunt down to Crosby, but still a chance to get away for a few hours. It’s the sort of thing I used to do a couple of times a year (and other people did far more often) before COVID-19 hit. The last time I’d been in the U.S. was August 2019 to watch horse racing at the Emerald Downs track outside of Seattle.
I’ve spent more time in Dawson City, Yukon, and Alma, N.B., than the U.S. over the past three years, even though the U.S. is a much closer destination.
Frankly, visiting the U.S. has never been a top priority for me. I’ve spent 35 years living within close proximity of the international boundary, and I’ve likely headed south two or three times a year on average.
Typically I’ll need a specific reason to head south. A Seattle Mariners’ baseball game. Horse racing at Emerald Downs. A visit with my former college roommate.
I’ve been here for 22 years, and I’ve never been to Minot. I know that The Magic City has an appeal for many of you, but it doesn’t turn my crank. Shopping? Meh. I can get what I need here. There is a certain Cuban product that I can’t get here, and I believe you can’t purchase it in Minot either. If I could find it down south, I would likely have to pay duty upon returning to Canada.
If I go to Minot, it would likely be to catch the Amtrak train to Minneapolis.
Anyways, it was nice to take a simple trip to the U.S. and put my passport to good use for the first time this decade.
It also meant using the ArriveCan app for the first time. You know, ArriveCan. That app that has been the source of much criticism and frustration in the past few months. It’s not overly time consuming to fill out – it took about 10-15 minutes to complete the first time – but it was an inconvenience, and frankly, I could think of better things to do with my spare time.
Travel between the Canada-U.S. border has been minimal for most of the past 2 1/2 years. For much of the pandemic, we couldn’t cross the border to the U.S. unless it was for essential (ie, business-related) reasons. In one of the absurd twists of the pandemic, for a while, we could go to the U.S. but people couldn’t come up here.
We’ve seen border restrictions gradually loosen in the past year, but it’s still not easy to cross the border. And coming into Canada is still tougher than heading to the U.S., although when you do visit the U.S., you have to be cognisant of what will be waiting for you when you return to Canada.
In the case of those who live in southeast Saskatchewan, you have to remember that we still have limited hours at most border crossings. Want to go to Crosby or Noonan? That’s great. But you have to be back through the Port of Estevan by 4 p.m., or you’ll have to drive up to the North Portal crossing and add about an hour to your travel time.
If you’re not vaccinated, it’s not as easy to cross the border as those who have at least two doses.
The hurdles needed to enter Canada are among the few remaining pandemic restrictions. All government pandemic restrictions in Saskatchewan have been lifted.
But you still need to fill out the ArriveCan forms to enter the country, and you’re still facing limited operating hours unless you’re crossing at one of the busier crossings.
When these restrictions and measures are finally lifted – at least for the vaccinated – it will represent another step towards returning to normal.
It would also provide a boost to the economies of communities on both sides of the border. Communities like Estevan and Oxbow have been speaking out about the damage to their economy for months.
When the pandemic hit, we needed the border measures. Not now. Return the border hours to normal. Make it easier to cross. Help our economies.
It won’t result in much of a change for me. But it will have benefits for so many others.
