Dear Clients:
As you may know, the Prime Minister has just spoken to Canadians and his counterpart in the US has also communicated via twitter and is expected to make a public address to the US very soon. Please understand that more details are expected to come. At present, the public is being given little details of the new measures recently announced and so this is limiting everyone’s understanding of the finer and more important details that are needed. With a firehose of general information and little specifics at this time, we ask you to be patient as we continue to press for these very vital details. Again, we are committed to providing, whenever possible, the most up-to-date information as it is made available to us.
Having said that, I can tell you what we do know at this time about the new continental measures agreed to by Canada and the US. We know that our border is now shut down for travel and tourism purposes. Prime Minister Trudeau and President Trump have announced, by “mutual consent”, that the Canada- U.S. border will close to all non-essential travel.
There is no immediate timeline for this temporary border closure at present, and it will continue for as long as both countries deem it necessary to protect the health and safety of Americans and Canadians alike. To be clear, Canada and the US are closing the border for non-essential travel. That means Canadians and Americans crossing the border for essential work will continue.
However, it remains relatively unclear who and what will qualify as “essential travel” and how these new measures will be implemented at our Canadian border. We are in constant contact with the CBSA and so we expect these details very soon. We will update you as any new information is made available. So for businesses, we know that essential travel will continue. It is also a positive sign that Prime Minister Trudeau has always maintained any travel restriction measures will not affect commerce and trade. We also know that supply chains are critical to both countries and so Canada and the US will do their utmost not to disrupt them. As of the time of this update, what constitutes essential travel is a matter still subject to ongoing discussions and evaluation by the administrations of both countries. More updates will come very soon.
It is also still unclear at this point how these new measures will affect family members on both sides of the border. We continue to press on this issue as well. We know how important family is to everyone and so we know how many people this affects on both sides of the border. We will update you on this as new information becomes available.
Please stand by for more details. As always, stay safe and healthy.
Respectfully,
Eddie H. Kadri, BA, JD, Esq.
Kadri Law Professional Corporation
