There are mounting indications that the border between Canada and the United States will not reopen later this month as scheduled.
CBC News has confirmed a Reuters report on Tuesday that Ottawa and Washington are currently in talks to extend the border restrictions past a June 21 deadline.
Both Reuters and CBC News say no agreement has yet been reached about the extension or how long it would be in force.
The measure was extended in April and May.
In this photo taken May 17, 2020, Kris Browning, left, stands in Canada and holds hands with her husband, Tim Browning, in the U.S., after posing for a photo at the border near Lynden, Wash. With the border closed to nonessential travel amid the global pandemic, families and couples across the continent found themselves cut off from loved ones on the other side, but Ottawa announced new measures this week to rectify the problem. (AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)
The agreement leaves the border open for commercial traffic and essential workers who cross for work, but prohibits recreational visits.
An RCMP officer patrols Peace Arch Park at the Canada-U.S. border crossing between B.C. and Washington earlier this month. The border has been closed since March 21 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. (Ben Nelms/CBC)
“It’s going to be a clean rollover” on June 21, a U.S. source who requested anonymity, told Reuters.
“We will want to look at it again in July.”
More than 114,000 people in the U.S. have died from COVID-19.
Canada has reported 7,835 deaths, and 96,244 coronavirus cases, as of Tuesday.
Most of those cases are in Quebec and Ontario, though all 10 provinces and two of the territories have been impacted by the virus.
The Reuters story said a majority of provinces have privately told Ottawa they are reluctant to resume non-essential travel.
A spokeswoman for Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, who is responsible for ties with the U.S., told CBC News that both sides agreed the ban has worked well.
With files from CBC News (Katie Simpson, Peter Zimonjic), RCI
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