Sask. snowbirds excited to head south when U.S. border reopens
Nov. 8 is the tentative date for the United States government to reopen its land and sea borders to non-essential fully vaccinated Canadian travellers. The border closed in March 2020.
It’s an announcement Canadian snowbird travellers Duane and Christa Hayunga have been waiting for in Prince Albert, Sask.
“We were expecting the border to open in the summer once Canada announced that they were opening their border to leisure travel for Americans,” said Hayunga.
Hayunga has booked a spot at an RV Park in Mesa, Arizona and says he’s excited to drive there with his truck and camper trailer.
On Friday, the U.S. Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said it will accept proof of vaccination from international travellers who received mixed doses of COVID-19 vaccines. It’ Air travel between the U.S. and Canada remained open during the pandemic.
Hayunga says they decided in the summer to update their COVID-19 vaccines to the brands approved in the U.S.
“We were watching that closely, my wife was a mixed dose vaccine person. I had AstraZeneca so we already each had our third shot. I don’t need to get the fourth it looks like, so I won’t be doing that,” said Hayunga.
He’s also checked with his insurance agent and says he’s got coverage for COVID-19 illness.
Canada opened its land border to U.S. citizens Aug. 9. Air travel between the U.S. and Canada remained open during the pandemic.
Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said Canada can't afford to take any chances when it comes to COVID-19, so measures at the border requiring travellers to show a negative test result before re-entering the country will remain in place.
Conservative Member of Parliament for Prince Albert Randy Hoback is among a group of MPs working to reopen the border. He’s pleased the U.S. has move to open the vehicle traffic, saying Canada and the U.S. will continue to refine their policies.
“The testing requirement, we need to take a look at our processes and see if they’re actually redundant or needed, so there’s some things that need to be addressed as the date to opening comes closer,” said Hoback.
TRAVEL INSURANCE
Vice-president of products and founder of Goose Insurance, Pamela Kwiatkowski, recommends people carry travel insurance and read their policies to ensure it covers pre-existing conditions, emergency medical coverage and costs associated with COVID-19 illness.
“Our recommendation is to read the fine print,” Kwiatkowski said. “Covid is a risk, particularly for seniors so ensuring that your travel insurance plan has Covid coverage is really important.”
She says provincial health care plans don’t apply outside your province of residence, even in neighbouring provinces.
She say one day in the hospital in the U.S. can cost as much as $5,000 and travelers might want to consider insurance policies that include unexpected required quarantines.
“It’s not just the emergency medical coverage for Covid as well, what if you get Covid and you have to quarantine? Those additional meals and accommodations if you haven’t planned for that can become quite costly,” Kwiatkowski said.
Canadian air travellers still need to show a pre-departure negative COVID-19 test taken within three days of boarding their flight and proof of vaccination on arrival in the U.S.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories

Mideast ministers in Ottawa to discuss Israel-Hamas war with Joly, Trudeau
A group of foreign ministers from the Palestinian Authority, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye are in Ottawa today for a quietly planned meeting with Foreign Affairs Minister Melanie Joly to discuss attempts to end the Israel-Hamas war.
Minnesota grocery store clerk dies after customer impales him with a golf club, police say
A Minneapolis store clerk died after a customer beat him and impaled him with a golf club, police said. The 66-year-old clerk was attacked Friday at the Oak Grove Grocery, a small neighborhood store in a residential area near downtown Minneapolis. A 44-year-old suspect is jailed on suspicion of murder.
BREAKING Shohei Ohtani agrees to record $700 million, 10-year contract with Dodgers
Shohei Ohtani has opted to stay in southern California, and the Toronto Blue Jays have missed out on landing a generational talent.
B.C. Amber Alert cancelled after roughly 90 minutes
An Amber Alert that was issued province-wide in British Columbia Saturday has been cancelled, roughly 90 minutes after it began.
Ibrahim Ali found guilty of killing 13-year-old girl in B.C.
A jury has found Ibrahim Ali guilty of killing a 13-year-old girl whose body was found in a Burnaby, B.C., park in 2017.
A pregnant Texas woman asked a court for permission to get an abortion, despite a ban. What's next?
Kate Cox, a mother of two in Texas, became pregnant again in August but soon after learned devastating news: Her baby has a fatal condition and is likely to either be stillborn or die shortly after birth.
Thousands of revelers descend on NYC for annual Santa-themed bar crawl SantaCon
Here come Santa Clauses. Again. Throngs of people dressed as jolly Old St. Nick descended on New York City for the annual SantaCon charity pub crawl on Saturday.
Extremely rare white alligator is born at a Florida reptile park
An extremely rare white leucistic alligator has been born at a Florida reptile park. The 19.2-inch (49 cm) female slithered out of its shell and into the history books as one of a few known leucistic alligators, Gatorland Orlando said Thursday.
A Soviet-era statue of a Red Army commander taken down in Kyiv
City workers in Kyiv on Saturday dismantled an equestrian statue of a Red Army commander, the latest Soviet monument to be removed in the Ukrainian capital since Russia launched its full-scale invasion last year.