Canada-U.S. land border reopening celebrated by waiting Manitoba travellers

WINNIPEG -

At Midnight on November 8, U.S. land border crossings will open their gates to Canadians after nearly two years, letting eager travellers pack up and head south for a long-overdue vacation.

Grant and Sheila McVicar are among those happy about the opening. In 2020, the couple decided they wanted to spend their retirement years travelling across North America in an RV.

Everything went as planned for the first few months as they travelled through the U.S., but in March of 2020, the couple had to cut their visit short.

"Family were giving us such a bad time, 'you got to get back across the border,' cause no one knew what was going to happen," said Grant.

Ever since the land border between Canada and the United States was closed for non-essential travel, the McVicar's have been living out of their RV in a park just outside of Illes De Chênes.

In October, the U.S. Government announced it would be reopening the border for fully vaccinated Canadians.

Music to the McVicar's ears who plan to leave Manitoba the second the border opens up and head to Texas without skipping a beat.

"Once we finish there, we'll head out through Tucson Phoenix area, and through Yuma and up to San Diego and spend two months with our son," said Grant.

It's not only Canadians who are excited to get back to travelling south; some American businesses are looking forward to the potential spike in customers.

At the Baymont by Wyndham Hotel in Grand Forks, ND, Front Desk Manager Jill Avilla said 2020 was very slow due to COVID-19, and the border reopening to Canadians is a light at the end of the tunnel.

"It's huge. Before COVID-19 hit, [Canadian travellers] were a big part of our business."

Avilla said she is already seeing an uptick in customers.

"We already have a lot of new reservations coming through that have Canadian addresses on it, so it's looking hopeful."

As for the McVicar's, they're are excited to hit the open road after enduring the last 20 months of unpredictable Manitoba weather.

"Certainly looking forward to many more years of doing this," said Grant.

"We want to be able to cross the border as often as we can without much hassle, so tonight's going to be an interesting trip to the border to see how it works."

Currently, Canadians crossing into the United States only need to show proof of vaccination, but when crossing back into Canada, they're required to provide a negative molecular COVID-19 test.