Manitoba duty-free owner, snowbirds 'jumping with joy' as U.S. land border opens to vaccinated travellers
Simon Resch says he saw many more travellers at the border than he was expecting on Monday morning
For the first time in nearly 20 months, the U.S. border crossing in Emerson, Man., opened to non-essential travellers on Monday.
People who are crossing at a land border are now required to show proof of vaccination or attest to their vaccination status upon request by a border agent. Younger travellers are exempt from the requirement.
Many travellers are excited to get back to family traditions, like warm holidays.
David Macrae owns a property in Florida that he, his wife and children haven't visited since November of 2019.
"We're very happy to finally have an opportunity to get back across the border," he said.
When returning to Canada, all recreational travellers over four years of age must provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test taken within 72 hours of their return flight or planned arrival at the land border.
Canada will only accept a molecular test — such as a PCR test — which can cost hundreds of dollars.
Travellers crossing into the U.S. for short trips are allowed to take their molecular test in Canada and then use it upon their return — as long as it's under 72 hours old.
WATCH | Mixed emotions as people cross the Canadian, U.S. land border:
Macrae says he and his family have appointments booked at the Minneapolis airport to get their tests done within 30 minutes.
"We would prefer if we didn't have to ... it certainly could be cost prohibitive for many folks. It's going to cost us a few dollars, for sure, but that's what it's going to cost us to get down there," he said.
Stay-at-home mom Corinne Engel is heading to North Dakota for a week away. She plans to spend some time shopping and antiquing south of the border.
"It's kind of surreal," she said. "It's been so long, actually two years since I've been here ... It's going to be good to get back, to be by myself again."
Engel has plans to get a free PCR test about two days (about the amount of time the results take) before she crosses the border back in to Canada.
She believes the negative COVID-19 test requirement will likely be a reality for the foreseeable future.
"If you want to get back to normal, there's things you have to do to get back to normal," Engel said.
Dennis and Lucy, who declined to provide a last name, said they're "thrilled" to travel south to their home in Florida and stay there for the whole winter.
"We're looking forward to it," Dennis said.
However, they're hoping to wait out a PCR test requirement.
"We're hoping it's going to be changed by then so we don't have to do that, but if need be, we'll do it. It'll be what it'll be," Lucy said.
Simon Resch, the owner of the Emerson Duty Free Shop, said there were border lineups the likes of which he normally saw in pre-pandemic times during the summer, including snow birds and short-term travellers.
"Lineups at 5:30 this morning was music to my ears. I was jumping with joy," Resch said.
"It's better than what I was expecting."
In a three-hour period, his store made a huge number of sales.
"As of 9 a.m., we recorded our busiest sales day in the past 20 months. Thrilling. Thrilling. It doesn't sound like a whole lot, but for us down here on the border in a duty-free, it was just amazing, I can't stop smiling," he said.
Resch hopes his customer base will return to normal soon, but worries testing requirements will deter many travellers.
"It's very, very expensive, punitive in my view," Resch said, adding that it de-incentivizes short-term travel.
That's the case for Kip Frater, who says the expensive tests, along with climbing COVID-19 cases in North Dakota, make it just too risky to cross the border for something he can do in Canada.
The seven-day average in North Dakota is 492 as of Monday, whereas north of the border it's 147. Meanwhile, the test positivity rate in the state is 13.2 per cent, compared to Manitoba's 5.4 per cent.
When asked if he'll make the trip across the border, Frater said, "Not until things change."
With files from the Meaghan Ketcheson, Marina von Stackelberg and Julien Sahuquillo