Open Borders? Not just yet
Canada has certainly been in a weird sort of spotlight since the pandemic really got underway. Recently there were all sorts of accusations and allegations levied towards the parliament.
Now, as the country looks to the future, there are a few reopenings to be keenly aware of. First and foremost however, the border restrictions with the US will remain until June at the earliest. Secondly, both the US and Canada are increasing the travel ban to out of country flights until June.
Ontario is beginning stage one of reopening the city, as Doug Ford outlines some new plans. Businesses not located in malls are being permitted to reopen their doors. Construction projects, golf courses, boat marinas etc are being allowed to resume operations. House cleaning and maintenance, scheduled surgeries and other essentials are being allowed to resume.
Beginning June 1st, National Parks in Canada will be reopening. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau shared his logic in a statement after the announcement.
“We know that you can’t prevent Canadians from going outside when the weather is nice, you just have to help them do it safely. Continue to impress upon them the need for physical distancing, recognize that certain areas are more vulnerable than others…but create opportunities for Canadians wellbeing, for their mental health, while at the same time protecting their physical health.”
More Provinces Following Suit
Alberta is planning a similar reopening strategy to Ontario. With plans in place for most businesses and non essentials to reopen providing they follow certain guidelines.
British Columbia and Calgary are taking things much slower in terms of reopening. While they are allowing some things like construction, essential travel and small businesses to reopen, they’re taking it slow.
Calgary in particular is planning on not reopening most of the province until much later in June. While British Columbia is looking to reopen most of their province by early June, provided that they continue to trend downward in case count.
The world may be struggling to move forward in light of the COVID issues. As tensions continue to rise around the topic, but new cases begin to trend downward, reopenings were inevitable. Here’s hoping that these soft reopenings aren’t too early and could see a relative return to normal.
