In accordance to a recent Nanos Research survey, at least 80% of Canadians believe that the U.S.-Canada border should stay closed for the foreseeable future.
Though a majority of travel across the border has been paused for 30 days since March 21, it seems that most Canadians would rather maintain the border restrictions for at least some time especially with rising case numbers of COVID-19 in the United States.
In June, the Prime Minister of Canada made it clear that the U.S. and Canada will continue to block non-essential travel between the two nations until July 21. With confusing leadership and premature calls to reopen, the U.S. seems to be struggling to mitigate the spread of this deadly disease that has taken the lives of 130,000+ Americans.
Although non-essential travel is restricted, foods and goods, which are deemed essential, can travel across the border. Moreover, people can travel for work-related reasons. The Prime Minister of Canada also said in June that family members are able to visit each other as long as those entering Canada quarantine for 2 weeks. They are issuing fines for non-compliance.
The survey, which was conducted for The Globe and Mail, specifically asked their participants whether the border should be open for non-essential travel immediately(from low risk areas) or if the border should remain closed for at least some time. According to this poll over 80 percent said that the border should remain closed.
These responses most likely stem from the United States’ handling of COVID-19. The CDC documented over 52,000 new cases just this Sunday. The total cases are about 2.8 million currently. Canada’s handling of this virus seems to be quite remarkable with low numbers of new cases every day.
***This survey, according to The Globe and Mail, included over 1,000 Canadian adults. It occurred between June 28 and July 2. The margin of error is about 3.1% ***
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