Frustrated snowbirds make other plans as U.S. extends border closure

Panicked snowbirds had held off booking winter reservations at Marilyn Stone's Fort Camping RV sites she manages in Fort Langley, Agassiz and Parksville in the hopes the U.S. would finally ease border restrictions that have been in place since the start of COVID-19 in March 2020.

But now, with the White House announcing this week that restrictions at the land border on non-essential travel by Canadians will be extended until Oct. 21, some are worried “it's getting too late” to start driving south, said Stone.

Waiting another month to see whether the land border will be opened means they'll have to deal with winter driving conditions in late October and early November.

“Phones started to ring yesterday and people who had been holding off were more panic-stricken, asking, `Do you have a place?' ” said Stone.

“They don't want to go over the mountains with their big rigs (that late). There are the (Rockies), but also mountains going down to the U.S. wherever they go, to Arizona or Texas.”

She said, “last year, we were definitely packed to the gills for the winter. It's looking like it could be the same for sure.”

Canadian visitors to the U.S. can currently only arrive for non-essential reasons by air.

The Canadian Snowbird Association said Tuesday it has “been engaging with U.S. government officials and agencies to safely reopen the land border to Canadian citizens as soon as possible. This is an advocacy priority as over 70 per cent of Canadian snowbirds travel to the U.S. with their Canadian vehicles.”

“I think my confusion, and that of a lot of other snowbirds, is I can't understand why I can fly, but not drive.

“That's still my frustration. Driving seems to be much safer than going in and out of airports,” said Wendy Caban, who lives in the Okanagan and has a place in Mesa, Ariz.

Stone said that at the Fort Langley site, which has been running a winter program for a decade, “we had a bunch of new people come (last winter) from the Prairies and as far as Ontario who would normally drive to the U.S.”

Howard Galganov and his wife, Anne, usually escape the freeze of southeastern Ontario by heading to Texas, but they'll be back at Fort Langley again this winter.

“The thing is I'm not even sure (the border) will open after Oct. 21.

“I don't want to sit and wait for the American government. They're in no rush to open it,” he said.

News of the land border restrictions for Canadians being extended came on the same day the White House announced it plans to begin opening air travel for all vaccinated foreign nationals in early November.

“For some reason, Canadians with an RV are a different situation,” said Galganov, adding they usually spend about $20,000 in the U.S.