COVID-19: Frustrated Canadian Snowbirds Make Other Plans as US Extends Land Border Closure

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Panicked snowbirds had postponed winter reservations at the Marilyn Stone’s Fort Camping RV sites that he manages in Fort Langley, Agassiz, and Parksville in hopes that the US would finally ease border restrictions that have been in place. effective since the start of COVID-19 in March. 2020.

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But now, with the White House announcing this week that land border restrictions on non-essential travel by Canadians will run through October 21, some are concerned that it is “getting too late” to start driving toward the south, Stone said.

Waiting another month to see if the land border will open means they will have to deal with winter driving conditions in late October and early November.

“The phones started ringing yesterday and the people who had been waiting were more terrified and asked, ‘Do you have a place?’ Stone said. “They don’t want to go to the mountains with their big trucks (so late). There are the (Rocky Mountains), but also mountains that go down to the US Wherever they go, to Arizona or Texas. “

She said, “Last year, we were definitely packed to the brim for the winter. It looks like it could be the same for sure. “

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Canadian travelers to the US are currently only allowed to arrive by air for non-essential reasons.

The Canadian Snowbird Association said Tuesday that it “has been collaborating with US government officials and agencies to safely reopen the land border to Canadian citizens as soon as possible. This is a promotional priority, as more than 70 percent of Canadian snowbirds travel to the United States with their Canadian vehicles. “

“I think my confusion, and that of many other snowbirds, is that I cannot understand why I can fly but not drive. That is still my frustration. Driving seems to be much safer than getting in and out of airports, ”said Wendy Caban, who lives in Okanagan and has a place in Mesa, Arizona.

Stone said that at the Fort Langley site, which has been running a winter program for a decade, “we had a ton of new people come (last winter) from the prairies and from Ontario who would normally drive to the US. . “

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Howard Galganov and his wife, Anne, who are semi-retired, usually escape the freezing of southeastern Ontario and head for Texas, but will return to Fort Langley this winter.

“The thing is, I’m not even sure that (the border) will open after October 21. I don’t want to sit around waiting for the American government. They are in no rush to open it, ”he said.

News of the extension of land border restrictions for Canadians came on the same day the White House announced that it plans to begin opening air travel for all vaccinated foreign nationals in early November.

“For whatever reason, Canadians with an RV are a different situation,” Galganov said, adding that they typically spend about $ 20,000 when they winter in the United States. “It’s not the end of the world. I’d rather go south, but Fort Langley is also a beautiful place. “

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Meanwhile, in Washington state, smaller Whatcom County businesses affected by the loss of Canadian snowbird trade and continued border restrictions can apply for grants from a new program to be launched by the state Department of Commerce. early October.

Canadians have not been able to frequent these businesses, but vaccinated Americans allowed to cross the land border by Canada for nonessential reasons, such as tourism and shopping, have arrived in greater numbers, but nowhere near the levels. pre-pandemic.

During the first four weeks that Canada allowed vaccinated Americans to cross, a total of 120,840 foreigners entered Canada through land ports in the Pacific region, which includes the five Whatcom County border crossings from Blaine, Lynden, Sumas and Point Roberts, according to Canada. Border Services Agency. That’s an average of 4,316 people per day between Aug. 9 and Sept. 5, and nearly triple the average daily number of crossings for the same weeks in 2020 when Canada did not allow non-essential crossings.

But it is only a quarter of the crossings of the same weeks in 2019 before the pandemic.

– With files from The Bellingham Herald

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