Canadian government testing rules are too expensive for families and are simply “irrational,” critics suggest.
The Canadian Travel and Tourism Roundtable, speaking on behalf of families and the business community across Canada, are asking the Trudeau government to remove “unnecessary and non-science-based obstacles to international travel,” such as the pre-departure PCR test for fully vaccinated travellers, which it says disproportionately impact average Canadian families. The Roundtable also is calling on the government to amend the discriminatory child policy for travelling minors.
For the average Canadian family, travel is becoming increasingly difficult. The burdensome cost of a PCR test can add over $200 CAD per person or an additional $800 for a family of four for a round trip cross-border flight. This fee is proving cost-prohibitive to many Canadian families.
Unvaccinated minors travelling with their fully vaccinated parents are also unable to attend school, daycare and camp for two weeks after travel, potentially adding the cost of two additional weeks of private childcare, adding to the disincentive to travel. Until a vaccine for minors under 12 is approved, children should return to school using testing, not quarantine.
These policies were intended to be temporary and run counter to the recommendations made by the federal government’s COVID-19 Testing and Screening Expert Advisory Panel Report in May of this year.
“It’s irrational,” argues Perrin Beatty, president and CEO of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, who is also co-chair of the roundtable. “It simply doesn’t make sense.
“Canadian families deserve to be treated equally when travelling. In France and the United Kingdom, children can travel with their fully vaccinated parents, making travel to see family and friends more accessible to the middle class. Many other countries have implemented science-based policies, including the exemption of fully vaccinated travellers from testing requirements. Canada should follow suit,” Beatty says.
Many countries have recognized that easing restrictions for unvaccinated children is low risk, and they, therefore, exempt unvaccinated children travelling with fully vaccinated adults from any quarantine. For example:
In France, the measures applicable to vaccinated adults also apply to any minors accompanying them, regardless of vaccination.
In the United Kingdom, rules for fully vaccinated people also apply to travellers under 18 who reside in the UK or one of the listed countries with approved vaccination programs.
France, Portugal, Germany and the United Kingdom also recognize that requiring pre-departure and arrival tests for vaccinated travellers is redundant and have exempted fully vaccinated travellers from pre-departure testing requirements.
Although many had travel bookings lined up over the November-December period, the travel and tourism industry is bracing for cancellations, with Canadian families looking to either cancel or delay long-awaited winter trips and family visits.
“The pandemic took a real toll on our family,” says David Schwartz, who lives in Ottawa and has two children.
“We have been looking forward to bringing our children to visit family members across the border. We’ve done our part. My wife and I got vaccinated. But it is almost impossible for us to do this. The cost of the PCR test adds almost an additional $1000 to our trip, and then our kids can’t go to school for two weeks, resulting in additional childcare costs.
“We need the government to change the rules so we can see our loved ones again.”
The pandemic, vaccination status, and available science have changed; so too should the response and measures to keep Canadians safe while allowing the travel and tourism industry to re-open, the Roundtable argues.
“The PCR test is a major barrier for middle-class families hoping to travel across the border. The result is that families simply aren’t travelling,” says Sheila Gallant-Halloran, owner of Lush Life Travel. “The cost and inconvenience is too high, and until the federal government takes action to reduce the obstacles to travel, small Canadian tourism businesses like mine will not be able to recover fully.”
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