BUFFALO, N.Y. — Your days of having to use the ArriveCAN app every time you want to go to Canada may be numbered.
In June, the Canadian federal government extended many of its COVID-19 restrictions to go until at least September 30, but Congressman Brian Higgins, who has been critical of many of the COVID policies at the border for a long time now, is hopeful they will soon come to an end.
Congressman Higgins says there is a lot of momentum to end the mandatory use of the ArriveCAN app.
"The hope is it will end the mandatory ArriveCAN and make it voluntary if people choose to use it, but not required to use it," says Rep. Brian Higgins.
If you wanted to go to Canada right now, you'd have to use the app and enter your proof of vaccination and other information up to 72 hours before crossing the border into Canada.
Last week, Congressman Higgins met with some of his Canadian counterparts to talk about the need to remove barriers at border crossings to encourage travel and tourism. Members of the Canada-United States Inter-Parliamentary Group encouraged the Canadian government to make ArriveCAN voluntary.
"These COVID restrictions that continue to hamper cross-border traffic are a big problem and traffic is down between the borders by about 40%, so it's absolutely essential that we get back to a sense of normalcy. 86% of Canadians are fully vaccinated, and I think we're moving into a management mode as it related to COVID," said Rep. Brian Higgins.
Higgins is also hopeful the random testing at the border would be dropped.
"That is hoped, and also the vaccination requirement. Again, 86% of Canadians are fully vaccinated. It's a lower percentage for the United States, but it's still very, very high. And my hope is that all COVID restrictions will be lifted," said Rep. Brian Higgins.
Again, these restrictions are in place until at least next Friday, and there's no official word yet from the Canadian government about them being dropped.