Over 30K Travellers Have Now Been Stopped At Canada's Borders Since March 2020
Although Canada’s borders remain closed to all non-essential travel, it hasn’t stopped over 30,000 people from attempting to enter the country.
New data from the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) has revealed that as many as 30,475 foreign nationals were prevented from entering Canada between March 22, 2020, and January 6, 2021.
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30,475
People turned away at Canada's borders
The travellers stopped at the border were arriving from the United States via air and land.
According to Global News, 26,572 of the passengers were American citizens, while 3,903 were other foreign nationals attempting to visit Canada through the U.S.
The CBSA explained that around 30% of the travellers were turned away as they were visiting for tourism and sightseeing purposes, while 11% said they were coming to Canada for recreational reasons.
An additional 5% said non-essential shopping was the reason they were trying to visit.
In addition to those arriving from the States, another 756 people from overseas attempted to enter Canada by air for non-essential reasons.
While Justin Trudeau has said on multiple occasions that Canada’s current border control measures are “working,” he’s recently urged Canadians to cancel all upcoming vacations as he says stronger travel restrictions are to be announced.