United States and Canadian Borders

The government is making it hard for us to travel or anyone in that case due to the whole situation given. My brother was sent back from the border twice after he was told to get additional documents taken at his first attempt. Flying was his only option as will your in laws and others. Its a hard decision to say if they will open the borders apart from flying.

I would think having your family and closest friends present may be the best idea if you wish to get married and have a big celebration later as your guests from the states can travel.

My husband's parents live in Wisconsin, so I feel a part of your pain and frustration.


As far as the border being open by August: I really doubt it. I think both countries would need to have their outbreaks under control and a large portion of the population vaccinated first. Is it possible for the any of the family to travel together and isolate together? It would make for a long trip for them, but with a lot of people working from home they might be able to come, isolate, and work remotely during those 2 weeks before they can see you guys.

I have no advice, just hear to say I’m in a similar boat. I’m in Canada and my dad and step mom live in South Carolina, it’s so hard to know what the future looks like. Fingers crossed with Biden now in office things will start to get better in the states and the boarder/travel restrictions will loosen up 🤞🏼

So here's the thing - travelling between Canada and the states is allowed, just not by land. We can't drive across the border unless you're essential but anyone can fly in and out anytime they've wanted. Has always been that way since March. It's been one of the major criticisms of the government's plan in fighting covid.

That being said, your guests will have to fly into Pierre Trudeau in Montreal and trek their way into NS from there as there are only four major airports in all of Canada taking international flights. I don't know if you can take a flight from Montreal into Halifax but it's a 12 hour drive into Bedford from Montreal. That's a brutal trip.

Now, just because you can, do I think you should? My personal answer to that is no but obviously this is your decision. Without knowing what August will be like and what our vaccine situation is (especially with the bomb Pfizer just dropped on the feds here), asking anyone to make that trip is unfeasible and not in the best interest of public health (in my opinion). It's one thing for your future husband to come up so he can marry you but it's another thing altogether to have a gathering of international guests with so much uncertainty.

These questions are always so difficult to answer because no one truly knows what is going to happen, and no amount of research will determine what the future holds. I personally think it’s too risky. The vaccine is delayed right now... it’s all very uncertain. I would wait until closer to august to decide, and in the meantime come up with a plan B.

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Thank you for your input! I believe travel is permitted, but only for essential workers and compassionate reasons. In my province, you would also be forced to isolate for 14 days upon your arrival which no one would be able/ want to do. My fiancé and I are also 32 and 33 and want to get married this year I just can't see myself going through with it, at least not without his parents.

Are you sure the borders are still closed ? I ask because I work in a pharmacy so I know 1) snowbirds are still going down and 2) we are doing inbound traveller covid tests and there’s a lot of Canadians going on vacation and we always ask what country they are returning from and majority are coming back from the US.
Either way tho travel looks different and will probably still look different in August. So you need to take that into account - can his family take extra time to quarantine? Does he have elderly family members that shouldn’t be exposed during traveling ? But on the other hand can you afford to push your wedding back? How will this affect your life timeline? (Personally I’m getting married no matter what this summer. We will be 33/32 and we want to start having kids as soon as the wedding is done).
No one knows what it will be like by the summer - hopefully the general population has been vaccinated but it’s possible they won’t. You both will have to weigh your pros and cons to decide.