Scrapping of PCR test for short cross-border trips welcome news in border towns

PRESCOTT, ONT. -

Prescott resident Larry Dixon is happy to hear that restrictions are being lifted for Canadians who want to hop over to the United States for short trips.

"Good! That's excellent news," he said, walking his dog in Prescott's Riverwalk Park Wednesday morning.

"I think it's what they should have done in the first place," he added. "If you were going on vacation and you were staying over there for multiple days, then it's a necessity. I think just for quick trips that's really necessary (for the removal of the PCR test). It'll help both economies on both sides."

The news broke Wednesday morning that the PCR test would no longer be needed for fully vaccinated Canadians travelling to the U.S. for less than 72 hours, and likely to be in effect at the end of this month.

Prescott mayor Brett Todd says he had been working with a border mayors group to push the federal government to scrap the test for months.

"We had a meeting with minister (Marco) Mendicino on Friday and he did indicate they were heavily looking at it," Todd said. "So we did have our fingers crossed that something would be put in place by November 21."

For Canadians heading to the U.S. for more than 72 hours, a molecular test, like the PCR test, will still be required to re-enter Canada.

Todd, who has family in the U.S., says the lifting of the expensive test, which can sometimes cost more than $200, will finally let families reunite in the coming weeks.

"The removal of this unnecessary PCR test moves us along in that direction so I'm looking forward to the holidays now more so than I was a couple of days ago," he said.

"For me, it's a family issue; it's a friends issue," Todd added. "Our communities here are very closely linked, a lot of border families, a lot of people that haven't seen each other for a very, very long time and with the holidays coming up I think we've got to do what we can to get families back together.

"I would really like to get over and see my relatives and I know a lot of people in Prescott and all over Canada want to get over and see their friends and family in the U.S.," he said.

The president of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, speaking at the Canadian Travel & Tourism Roundtable press conference on Tuesday, wants the federal government to scrap PCR tests for all cross-border trips, no matter how long Canadians stay in the U.S.

"It's a step forward there, but we need get rid of this test all together, and found what we're doing on the issue on whether or not a person has been fully vaccinated," Perrin Beatty said.

For Dixon, who hasn't crossed the border in two years, he says a day trip to Ogdensburg, N.Y. would have been normal pre-pandemic.

Now, it might be in his future once again.

"We probably head over there about once a month to do a little bit of shopping," he said. "There are certain things you can buy over there that you can't buy here."

"We've got to get back to that sense of normalcy and get the flow going both ways," added Todd. "I think we're moving through the worst of the pandemic. We've got to remain positive, we've got to get back to some sense of normalcy and this is a big step in the right direction."

An official announcement from the federal government is expected to come on Friday, including what day the change will come into effect.