Keeping Canadians safe: Canada-U.S. border closure extended

Canada and its southern neighbour have once again agreed to extend the border closure for another 30 days, until August 21.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau confirmed to reporters that the Canada-U.S. border would remain closed.

Despite lobbying from U.S. politicians to reopen the border, Canada remains committed to keeping Canadians and residents safe, amid ongoing concerns from Canadians about the surge in COVID-19 cases south of the border.

Trudeau maintains that he has concerns over the coronavirus situation in the U.S. The border between the two countries will remain closed except to essential travel.

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Essential travel includes trade shipments through railways and trucks, essential workers and temporary foreign workers.

In addition, Canadian citizens and permanent residents are allowed through the border.

Provincial leaders have also expressed their opposition to the reopening of the Canada-U.S. border.

Ontario Premier Doug Ford says he is against the reopening of the border whilst highlighting the spike in coronavirus cases in Florida.

U.S. President Donald Trump had earlier signed an executive order banning new green card holders and temporary workers from entering the country. The president believes that this move will help American workers whose employment had been affected due to COVID-19, find employment.

However, Canada is committed to welcoming immigrants and temporary foreign workers. Immigration minister Marco Mendicino maintains that welcoming immigrants will help the economy recover, rather than hurt it.

This uncertainty clouding over U.S. immigration policy has also played a role in the increasing number of immigrants coming to Canada from the U.S.

Individuals who were previously interested in moving to the U.S. may now consider Canada as a better option, especially since there are many options to immigrate to Canada.

The U.S. currently has over 3.5 million COVID-19 cases and over 130,000 deaths.

In contrast, Canada has over 100,000 cases and 8,000 deaths.

Even when taking into account the difference in population, the number of cases in the U.S. is significantly higher than in Canada.

A fraction of a per cent of the Canadian population has contracted the virus. As for their American counterparts, that number exceeds 1 per cent.

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