Canadians can expect vaccine passports for international travel in the coming days. There’s also more help coming for trouble tourism businesses, and potential vaccines on the horizon for Canadian children.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau today (Oct. 21) said fully-vaccinated Canadians travelling overseas or using airplanes or interprovincial trains will soon have to show a vaccine passport.
Starting November 30, you won’t be able to fly without it, or take an interprovincial train.
The cards will have a QR code and the word Canada with a maple leaf flag over the final “a,” according to the Toronto Star.
In a federal report, officials said the only medical information shown on the card will be a person’s COVID-19 vaccination history. The vaccination proof certificate, including the QR code, “does not contain any additional medical or identity information.”
Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland & Labrador already have such documents available, as do Canada’s three territories. Trudeau said the rest of the provinces will soon come on board with vaccine passport documents, Trudeau said at a news conference in rainy Ottawa.
Officials said the passports will show a person’s name, date of birth and their COVID-19 vaccine history. That includes the doses a patient has received and the date they were inoculated.
The certificates will be available for download and also can be printed out. They also can be mailed to Canadians.
Trudeau said the federal government will pay for the documents and that he’s “very confident” the passports will be recognized around the world.
Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said the government’s main business support programs will end on Wednesday, Oct. 23, as Canada has already recovered 100% of jobs lost during the pandemic.
But she said the government recognizes that tourism and other businesses have been hit hard, and that Ottawa will bring in two new programs beginning on Thursday, Oct. 24. Those programs will provide wage and rent support for hotels, restaurants and travel agencies.
Trudeau today also said he has spoken with Pfizer and that, as soon as Health Canada approves the Pfizer vaccine for children, there will be a fully supply of vaccines for Canadians aged five to 11.
“This is very good news for all parents and children across the country,” he said, adding that some 2.9 million doses are expected.
The Liberal Party earlier this year appeared reticent to bring in proof of vaccination documents, but recent polls have shown strong support from a Canadian population that has reached a 83.2% double vaccination rate for those 12 and older.
The National Airlines Council of Canada said it welcomes the news about vaccine certificates.
“(The) release of this new ‘vaccination passport’ utilizing the SMART Health Card standard is critical for the effective implementation of the mandatory vaccination mandate. We urge those provinces that have yet to release the new standardized proof of vaccination to do so as quickly as possible,” the group said.
