Justin Trudeau says Canada will need stronger screening measures to deal with an anticipated increase in the number of people entering the country from the United States.

The prime minister is not saying whether he expects the Canada−US border to reopen when a mutual ban on non−essential travel expires next week.

But rather he says preventing transmission of COVID-19 into Canada from other countries will be an essential part of preventing a second wave of the outbreak.

He says Canada will need to see a decrease in the number of new cases in the country, and will need to have the ability to detect and track new cases.

Trudeau says the federal government plans to be "very, very careful" in dealing with an increase in cross−border traffic as businesses reopen and restrictions on personal mobility are slowly eased in both countries.Photo credit: Canadian Press

Some provincial premiers, however — most notably Ontario’s Doug Ford — have made it clear they don’t want to allow American visitors for fear of spreading the virus, which is rampant south of the border.

Canada and the US negotiated a partial closure of the border in March that has impeded vacationers and cross−border shoppers while allowing essential workers, trade and commerce to continue to move in both directions.

That deal, which has already been extended once, is set to expire May 21.

Yesterday Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said Canada and the US are working on plans to deal with what she called an inevitable increase in cross−border traffic as economies in both countries emerge from their pandemic−induced comas.

Freeland said traffic over the shared border is bound to increase as states and provinces reopen shuttered businesses and ease restrictions on personal mobility, even if the current Canada−US ban on non−essential travel remains unchanged.

That agreement, which has allowed essential workers and trade shipments to continue to move back and forth between the two countries.

Freeland said discussions about when and how to begin easing those restrictions are ongoing, both between Canada and the US and between the federal government and the provinces.