COLLINS LANDING, New York (WWNY) – Nearly two weeks’ worth of travelers have now been able to cross the Canadian border since pandemic restrictions have been lifted by Canada. No more proof of vaccination, or testing at the border. Along with it, travelers don’t have to use the ArriveCAN app.
“There was a whole list of reasons why people did not want to cross because of the app requirement,” said Corey Fram, director of tourism, 1000 Islands International Tourism Council.
Fram says information and immunization were two reasons for a decline in travelers. He learned people didn’t feel comfortable putting their personal information into the app.
Information and immunization aside, Fram said it was the app’s interface that created confusion for potential travelers.
Without the app, is traffic at the bridges and border increasing? It appears so.
At the Ogdensburg-Prescott International Bridge in the first 10 days after Canada dropped the app, traffic was up 15 percent compared to pre-pandemic levels.
Fram believes numbers should follow suit on the Thousand Islands Bridge.
“With the app going away, and the vaccine requirement going away to enter Canada, we expect that those numbers are going to pick back up and get a lot closer to 2019, and hopefully surpass 2019,” he said.
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