Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens says the news fully vaccinated travellers entering Canada won't have to show proof of a negative COVID-19 test is great for the region.
Federal ministers made the official announcement Thursday that the requirements will end April 1, after sources had reported that was the plan earlier this week.
Dilkens has been one of the loudest voices locally against the continued pre-arrival COVID-19 testing at the border.
He says this will benefit the snowbirds coming home in the spring and more importantly local businesses, including the casino.
"It really is essential after two years of restrictions in place to be able to have a pathway to get businesses like the casino re-opened, get those 2,000 men and women who have been touch and go in terms of their employment status back to work," he continued. "Recognizing that 30 per cent of the casino's business comes from across the border."
Dilkens says in a border city there are a whole host of businesses that rely on cross border traffic, and he's optimistic these changes will remain into the future.
"Clearly every government has to look at everything as the situation evolves as they've done for the last two years, but I think it becomes harder to put the genie back in the bottle. And don't forget the requirement to cross the border either way is that you have to be fully vaccinated," Dilkens said.
He says taking away the testing piece, while keeping the requirement to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to cross the border, is the right move.
"We should be encouraging people to get vaccinated, that to me is a reasonable restriction to keep in place. But the requirement for a test for a short trip to drop off your kid at the airport as an example, where you don't even leave the vehicle, it makes no sense at all. It's really providing no safety to Canadians to have to get someone like me to get that kind of test."
Eliminating the testing requirement is something that travel and tourism organizations as well as the mayors of border cities have been calling for, arguing that the requirement is not justified by science and presented an unnecessary logistical and financial burden on travellers.