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Snowbirds who are Canadian citizens or permanent residents but who winter in the southern U.S. would also be exempted in order to give them time to get home, the source added.

At a news conference earlier Tuesday in Ottawa, Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland made it clear that the government, which has for the moment exempted U.S. citizens from its own ban on foreign nationals, is preoccupied with finding a mutually agreeable solution to the border conundrum.

“Nearly 200,000 people cross that border every day and that border and that traffic that goes across that border is literally a lifeline for both the Canadians and the Americans on both sides of that border,” Freeland said.

“We get our groceries thanks to truckers who drive back and forth across that border. Very urgently needed medical supplies and medicines go back and forth across that border. And essential workers go back and forth across that border every day. So it is a unique relationship for Canada and it’s important for us in handling our situation on the border to be sure that we act to get things right.”

Nearly 200,000 people cross that border every day

Health Minister Patty Hajdu cited a number of examples of what the government would consider non-essential travel, such as shopping trips by residents of border communities — “things that people have taken for granted in a border town for a very long time.”

President Donald Trump, asked about the prospect of closing the northern border at his own White House news conference earlier in the day, signalled that talks were indeed in progress.

“I don’t want to say that, but we are discussing things with Canada, and we are discussing things with Mexico, quite honestly. The relationship is outstanding with both — outstanding,” Trump said, citing in particular the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, which Canada finally approved late last week before temporarily shutting down Parliament.

“We’re working very closely with Canada. Canada has closed (its border) to the world, but they have not closed it to the United States.”