Destination Canada has modelled that the earliest the Canadian borders can open is the autumn, said Marsha Walden, its president and chief executive.
Speaking at RVC+, this year’s virtual Rendez-vous Canada event, Walden said: “The question on everyone’s mind of course is when is the border going to reopen? And no one knows for sure.”
Walden said that Canadians have among the highest level of vaccination willingness in the world, and restrictions will begin to ease across the country.
“Destination Canada’s recent modelling, which considers current vaccination supply and rollout rates along with other publicly available data, forecasts that the fall is likely the earliest we can see borders start to reopen,” she said.
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“And we’re looking at scenarios where border reopenings could be staggered,” she continued. “Potentially first opening up to countries like the US, the UK or those in the EU, followed by other countries.”
However, she warned: “Of course our outlook is based on Destination Canada’s models of the data, it’s not federal government policy, so I caution you there.”
Walden acknowledged that this year has been a “long, very difficult journey” for tourism businesses.
“While we have 14 or 15 months of the pandemic behind us, we do not yet fully know what’s lying ahead,” she said.