October 13, 2021 – The Future Borders Coalition (FBC) – the bi-national group of over 70 organizations representing all modes of transportation (air, land, maritime), the cargo and logistics industry, as well as the business and tourism sectors – applauds the announcement made by Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro N. Mayorkas to allow fully vaccinated Canadians to enter the United States for non-essential purposes, via land and ferry ports of entry, sometime in early November.
“Today is a great day for U.S.-Canada relations and a long-awaited decision for those with family and business ties on both sides of the border. We look forward to receiving further details regarding specific timelines, testing protocols, and other entry requirements in the coming weeks. It is essential to leverage technologies to minimize confusion and potential delays to travelers and operators”, said Matt Morrison, Co-Chair of the Future Borders Coalition and Chief Executive Officer of the Pacific Northwest Economic Region (PNWER).
“We are pleased with the U.S. government’s decision to open the land border to fully vaccinated Canadians. Our two countries need to work closer to better align border policies and processes going forward. It will be important to find solutions that can facilitate entry for the thousands of travellers crossing the U.S.-Canada border everyday. With the reopening of our borders, we now need to focus on improving efficiency”, said Gerry Bruno, Co-Chair and Executive Director of the Future Borders Coalition.
Additionally, the FBC calls upon the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to quickly establish a Public-Private Advisory Committee to support direct government-industry collaboration on the best technologies, digital solutions, and other border processes and resources needed to ease travel and trade between both countries. The prompt implementation of a reliable and interoperable proof of vaccination digital solution can minimize delays at the border and reduce the burden on operators.
“As a bi-national coalition, we will continue to support bilateral coordination and government-industry collaboration in order to make the U.S.-Canada border more secure, efficient and resilient to future pandemics and other external shocks”, said Laurie Trautman, Co-Chair of the FBC Land Border Task Force and Director of the Border Policy Research Institute at Western Washington University.
For further information and media inquiries, please contact:
FBC Communications
info@futureborderscoalition.org
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