Jim and Carol Hook (née Bubnick) visited Carol’s sister and family (Darla and Jerome Kweens of Esterhazy) for Thanksgiving. The journey gives a great insight as to what travellers coming from the USA can expect when coming North. The Hook family started their trek from Cincinnati, Ohio across the border into Saskatchewan on October 7th.
While Americans have been able to travel this direction for a while now, we will soon also be able to head their way.
Starting November 8th, the United States will also be opening its land and sea border to non-essential fully vaccinated Canadian travellers for the first time since March 2020.
The Public Health Agency of Canada is still advising against non-essential international travel, but the border reopening means that Canadians can drive into the U.S. to visit family, or take a day trip; meanwhile, fully vaccinated Americans have been able to do this since August 9th.
For Jim and Carol Hook, the idea of a journey across the United States/Canadian border began to take form based on three main factors.
The first factor was to cross into Canada for personal reasons as the option became more feasible this past summer. The Hooks also knew three groups who had previously completed the trip successfully. The biggest pull involved Carol not being able to see her family for such a long time due to Covid.
Jim Hook stated, “Our plans started by uploading the ArriveCAN app on our phones. The ‘app’ lays out all the rules for border crossing but your data cannot be entered any sooner than 72 hours prior to your crossing.”
The main requirements from the Canadian government for crossing into Canada are the following:
1) Passports. (Jim and Carol have dual Canadian/American citizenship and they travel on their United States passports.)
2) Proof of Covid Vaccination.
3) A negative ‘PCR’ Covid test within 72 hours of crossing the border.
The journey began by researching how to obtain a fast turnaround PCR Covid test (Canada does not accept the antigen or other tests.)
Jim explained, “Next came our travel plans. Typically, we would fly from Cincinnati to Minneaplois to Regina but these flights did not seem to exist (lack of business travel from the USA to Saskatchewan is a possible reason for this).
The couple mentioned their options were to fly from Cincinnati to Chicago to Toronto to Regina, rent a car and drive to Round Lake/Esterhazy, or fly from Cincinnati to Minneapolis to Minot, rent a car and cross at Northgate, driving to Round Lake/Esterhazy.
“We chose the Minot route and the ‘decision maker’ was an unusual one – if we flew back from Regina, we would need a Covid test to board the airplane and the logistics and costs of doing this were not appealing.”
Jim read an article which mentioned that before booking flights, you should book your rental car first due to shortages. He booked the car in Minot and the price was reasonable, $255 USD for the week.
Next came booking the flights.
Mr. Hook mentioned that there were three main “scary points to the trip.”
1) Getting the results of their COVID test – a positive result meant their trip would be cancelled.
2) Crossing the border into Canada – if the couple was denied entry, it would have meant a week-long vacation in North Dakota instead of the scheduled plans.
3) Crossing the border into the United States – There was uncertainty as to how the return process would go. Jim quipped that, if the return home didn’t go well, “I guess we would be living in Saskatchewan for a while!”
The process began with obtaining PCR Covid tests. The tests cost $185 USD each. Jim explained, “The PCR test tends to be more expensive and because the traveller needs the ‘fast result’ turnaround, they kind of have you over a barrel for the costs. And because the test is not for health reasons, our United States Health Care plan does not pay. We decided to do the tests on consecutive days in case the first test came back positive, in which case, we would not pay for the second test. I tested ‘negative’ on October 5th and my wife tested ‘negative’ on October 6th. The test turnaround is about 30 minutes and this is a stressful 30 minutes. I think I can now relate to waiting for a pregnancy result!”
Hook continued, “After receiving my wife’s negative result, we then went through the process of filling out the ArriveCAN app. This required us to scan and upload our vaccine cards, PCR test results and passport information. We also had to select a border crossing and border crossing timing. This part was curious as you did not select a time range – you selected an hour and minutes. We selected Northgate at 2:30 P.M.”
The trip did not start ideally on October 7th. The couple drove to the airport to catch their 6:30 A.M. flight; yet, ten minutes into their car drive to the airport, Jim received an alert that our flight was delayed an hour.
This caused the couple to miss their connection in Minneapolis as they were booked from an original Minot arrival time of 9:40 A.M.
The car rental process went smoothly and the couple began their drive to the border. Upon arrival, armed with multiple copies of everything, the couple pulled into the Canadian Customs stall. They were the only vehicle on either side of the border and it made them wonder if the Canada border was open.
Jim mentioned the border guard was very pleasant, looked at their results and their passports, asked the traditional questions and talked with them about Esterhazy and Round Lake.
After a friendly, “Welcome to Canada”, the Hook couple was on their way.
They drove across the border line and stress point number two was completed with no issues.
Around 11:00 P.M., the couple finally arrived, exhausted but happy to be done with their travel.
After a great Thanksgiving weekend and feast, Jim and Carol prepared for their return flight scheduled for October 14th in Minot, but the return began on October 13th when they crossed the border back to the USA.
Jim clarified that, “At the US Border crossing we handed the agent our passports and our vaccine cards. He handed the vaccine cards back, stating these were not needed. He asked the typical border crossing questions, and had me open the trunk. After that he handed back our passports.”
After a friendly, ‘Welcome to the United States’, Jim and Carol were back on home soil. Stress point number three was behind them and they continued on to Minot.
Their flight home was slightly delayed as well, but overall things worked out well as they were given upgraded seats.
Jim ensured to state, “We both enjoyed our Canadian visit and the hospitality of the people in Saskatchewan. We shall return.”
The process will be slightly different for anyone crossing borders, but the experience from Jim and Carol Hook might give some insight to Canadian travellers looking to book their trips to the USA beginning after November 8th.