The Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars’ Canada Institute convened a Task Force on Public Health and the U.S.-Canadian Border to study the use of border restrictions to slow the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated variants. We began this effort six months after the border restrictions had been introduced on a temporary basis for 30 days only, and we had seen them renewed every 30 days since, with no bilateral plan from Washington or Ottawa on the conditions that might permit a return to normal border operations, or perhaps a “new normal.”

The Task Force's report, initially released on October 29, 2021,  is the culmination of almost two years of work and is informed by hundreds of briefings, studies, and shared experiences from experts, government officials, and private citizens. You can watch the official launch event from October 2021 here.