The Canada – U.S. border will not be opening again any time soon if Canada has anything to say about it.
An agreement between Canada and the United States to limit border crossings is due to expire in days. However, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says it will be ‘many weeks’ before the two countries can loosen restrictions that is keeping the border closed to all but goods and a small number of essential workers.
It is to keep the virus that causes COVID-19 from crossing back and forth with travellers.
“It would be absolutely disastrous for us to open up too early or too quickly, and have another wave hit us that could be just as bad as this one, and find ourselves in the situation of having to go back into quarantine the way we are right now and have everything we’ve done these past weeks be for nothing,” Trudeau said.
U.S. President Donald Trump says he’s eager to start returning to normal life, even as his country grapples with the world’s biggest outbreak of the novel coronavirus.
More Supports for Small Businesses
The Prime Minister also says the federal government is expanding a loan program for small businesses suffering from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Canada Emergency Business Account will now be open to businesses that had payrolls last year between $20,000 and $1.5 million. It previously offered up to $40,000 in loans to business with payrolls between $50,000 and $1 million.
More than 195,000 loans have been approved, totalling $7.5 billion in credit, according to PM Trudeau.
He also says a program is coming to help businesses cover rent for at least three months (April, May, and June) but the details still need to be worked out with the provinces and territories.
– With files from the Canadian Press
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