A new report is urging Canada and the United States to keep the shared border open when the next pandemic hits, rather than closing it entirely to non-essential travel. The task force, assembled by the D.C.-based Wilson Center, says a risk-management approach to the border would have been less disruptive and damaging than the “zero-risk” approach that was adopted.

The group includes former public safety minister Anne McLellan and ex-Quebec premier Jean Charest, as well as former Washington state governor Christine Gregoire and James Douglas, the former governor of Vermont.

The group’s year-long investigation also found that the border closure was far less integrated between the two countries than was originally believed.

Charest says a number of people living on both sides of the border suffered throughout the closure, which took effect in March 2020, and that the cost was ultimately too high.

And he says now is the time to get a mutual strategy in place, since the prospect of another pandemic is not a question of if, but of when.

The travel rules prohibited non-essential leisure travel over the land border without restricting trade shipments and essential workers. Canada began easing restrictions for fully vaccinated travellers in August, while a new US requirement that travellers be fully vaccinated will take effect Nov. 8.