‘We Are Gleeful’: Snowbirds Happily Head South as US Border Reopens

Vehicles wait at the Thousand Islands Bridge border crossing in Lansdowne, Ont., to cross into the United States after the U.S. border opened to non-essential travel on Nov. 8, 2021. The Canadian Press/Lars Hagberg

Thousands of Canadians, many of them snowbirds, eagerly crossed the U.S. border as it opened to non-essential travel on Nov. 8.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced on Oct. 29 that land ports of entry and ferry terminals would be open to vaccinated non-essential travellers from Canada at 12:01 a.m. Eastern Time on Nov. 8, marking the first time in roughly 20 months this was possible.