Many Canadians prefer closure of Canada-U.S. border, closure could last for months

#CanadaUSLandBorder; #LegerMarketingPoll; #CanadaPrefersClosedBorder; #CBSA

Ottawa, Aug 3 (Canadian-Media): Once wide open, Canada-U.S. land border which closed on March 21 to non-essential traffic,  would remain shut until at least Aug. 21. affecting the lives of many people on both sides, media reports said. 

Peace Arch US-Canada Border. Image credit: Wikipedia

Although Canadians can still fly to the U.S., but Canada prohibits United States (U.S.) visitors from entering via all modes of transport.

The border closure agreement between Canada and the U.S. is reviewed every 30 days.

CBC News has learnt from several experts in different fields that they predict the border won't reopen until sometime next year due to the continuous surge of COVID-19 in many US states. 

"It doesn't seem to be getting any better in the U.S.," said U.S. Immigration lawyer Len Saunders, whose office sits close to the Canadian border in Blaine, Wash. He believes the border could stay closed for another six months. 

"There's really no reason why the Canadian government, at this point, would want to open it up and subject Canadians to an increased rate of COVID infections," CBC News reported.

According to the  Leger Marketing poll 1,500 Canadians were asked last month if they thought the Canada-U.S. border should reopen at the end of July, 86 percent of respondents said they were opposed to the idea. 

"As long as Canadians don't feel safe, then why force open that border when there's no strong political logic to doing it?" said Moshe Lander, a professor at Concordia University in Montreal, reported by CBC News. 

He predicts a possible border reopening in middle to late 2021, subject to the virus being under control at that point.

Travel restrictions were recently loosened by the federal government to allow Americans to visit immediate family in Canada, including dependent children, spouses and common-law partners.

Couples who have lived together for at least one year qualify as common-law and this should be further proved with documentation showing a shared address.

Some separated couples who don't meet the criteria have opted to tie the knot. 

Canadians can fly to the U.S. to get married, or both partners can travel to the Peace Arch border crossing between B.C. and Washington state.

A shared Canada-U.S. park is the neutral zone in the  border crossing.

Although the Canadian section of the park is closed,  Canadians can still enter the U.S. section of the park for the day to visit with their American partner  or even get married. 

Americans are allowed to drive through Canada to Alaska for essential reasons, such as for work or to return home. However, they're not to make unnecessary stops along the way. 

The CBSA introduced stricter rules on Friday for Americans driving to Alaska.

They must enter Canada through one of five designated border crossings and hang a CBSA-issued tag from their car's rear view mirror that lays out the purpose and rules of their trip. 
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Before exiting Canada for Alaska, drivers must check in once again with the CBSA. ​