The Canada-U.S. border will remain closed to non-essential travel for another month.
Federal Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Bill Blair made the announcement Friday.
Restrictions were set to expire on Monday, September 21.
We are extending non-essential travel restrictions with the United States until October 21st, 2020. We will continue to base our decisions on the best public health advice available to keep Canadians safe.
— Bill Blair (@BillBlair) September 18, 2020
Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley said again, with the number of cases still going up, he and his border city counterparts are in no rush to see the border reopened.
"I can't believe if you look at what is happening now in Ontario and in Quebec, and in the U.S., that anyone would suggest that it needs to open this year," said Bradley. "It's simply wouldn't be acceptable."
Only essential travel and trade has been allowed since March 21 to limit the spread of COVID-19 between the two countries. The closure has been extended each month since then.
Bradley told Sue Storr on CHOK (103.9 FM, 1070 AM) Wednesday that, from what he's hearing, 80 per cent of the Ontario public wants it to remain closed for the time being because it's not worth the risk.
"And I give a lot of people credit because, people that I know that are saying that often have a direct interest in having Americans over here, whether it be in the restaurant business, gaming industry, you name it. They're recognizing that it just would be a foolish move and it would probably lead to some very severe consequences if the caseloads skyrocket and then they have to pull back, so I think there's more acceptance now that probably for the rest of this year the border will remain closed," he said.
Bradley said he and other border city mayors told Minister Blair that an exit strategy is needed if the border is reopened next year, that would re-establish travel between the countries in an incremental, staged manner to prevent a massive rush of people into Canada.