It looks like the Canada-U.S. border could be opening sooner than you think

It seems that the nearly year and a half-long closure of the Canada-U.S. border to all but essential travel may soon be over, according to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Residents eager to hop on a plane or get in a car and visit our neighbours to the south will be happy to know that the leader has implied multiple times in recent days that border measures could soon be loosened for both Canadians and Americans.

"We're very hopeful that we're going to see new steps on reopening [the border] announced in the coming weeks," Trudeau said at a press conference on Monday after admitting that Canada is doing better than virtually any other country as far as vaccination rates go.

"We will proceed in a responsible, step-by-step fashion in allowing larger numbers of people to come to Canada."

Canada is getting rid of its controversial mandatory quarantine for some travellers https://t.co/OK3RnUHdsY #Canada #Quarantine

— blogTO (@blogTO) June 9, 2021

He also pointed out the fact that fully vaccinated citizens and permanent residents can now travel internationally by air or land without having to check in to a quarantine hotel upon their return home, or having to quarantine for any length of time at all.

Because of that, he said that travel volumes will inevitably go up, and the federal government has to ensure our airports can handle the new surge and that it does not cause a spike in cases before any further action as far as border reopening is taken.

"Nobody wants to goback to further restrictions after having done so much and sacrificed so much to get to this point," he said, "so we're going to stay safe, but we're very hopeful."

The comments come a few weeks after the PM said that "we're talking about weeks and not months anymore," as far as permitting additional travel and easing measures between Canada and the U.S.