The border between the United States and Canada will remain closed to non-essential travel until October 21 to curb the Covid-19 pandemic, the Canadian Minister of Public Safety announced on Friday.
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We are extending restrictions at the Canada-U.S. Border for another 30 days, until October 21, 2020. We will continue to base our decisions on the best public health recommendations to keep Canadians safe
," the Minister Bill Blair.
The closure of the United States' borders with its two North American free trade partners, Canada and Mexico, was decided in March and has been extended every month since.
Only trade in goods and merchandise and travel considered essential are allowed.
The new one-month extension comes as Canada experiences a worrying resurgence of Covid-19 cases, which has killed more than 9,200 people.
At the same time, the United States, the most affected country in the world in absolute terms, is approaching the threshold of 200,000 deaths linked to the disease.
Over 400,000 people normally cross the border between Canada and the United States, the longest in the world, every day.
But that flow of cross-border visitors has fallen by more than 95% since March compared to last year, according to Canadian statistics.
Since March, more than 18,000 foreign travelers from the United States have been turned back by Canada at the border for non-essential travel, according to Ottawa.
The exchange of goods and merchandise on both sides of the border, which is nearly 8,900 kilometers long, amounts to 2.4 billion Canadian dollars (1.5 billion euros) daily.
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Canada's international borders will also remain closed to foreigners at least until September 30.
As of last March, travelers arriving in Canada, whether Canadian or not, have been subject to a mandatory 14-day quarantine.