THUNDER BAY — Thursday marks the anniversary of the Canadian and U.S. governments' announcement of the mutual closure of the international border, effective March 21.
The two countries would each limit entry to people travelling for specified essential purposes only.
At Pigeon River, nearly 8,000 travellers were still cleared to cross into Canada over an 11-month period after the closure.
According to Statistics Canada data, 4,392 Canadians and 3,288 Americans entered the country between April 2020 and February 2021.
The combined figure of 7,680 travellers was a 98 per cent drop from the equivalent period a year earlier.
Between April 2019 and February 2020, the Canada Border Services Agency allowed 380,543 people to enter at Pigeon River, including 291,683 Canadians and 88,860 Americans.
Even though international trade shipments are allowed to continue, there's also been a 35 per cent drop in the number of truckers crossing into Canada at Pigeon River during the border closure.
