Fully vaccinated Canadians taking short trips out of the country will no longer be required to take COVID-19 tests before returning home, multiple sources report.
Both the Toronto Star and the Globe and Mail report that the government will introduce a rule waiving the need for tests for anyone who’s outside of Canada less than 72 hours.
PCR tests, also known as molecular tests, would still be required for trips longer than 72 hours. Those tests can cost $200 or more in the U.S.
The CBC said the change likely will be made near the end of the month, just in time for cross-border Christmas shoppers who might want to hit the malls in Buffalo, Bellingham or other U.S. border cities. The network also said an announcement may come on Friday of this week.
The Star and Globe and Mail both report that the new rules will initially apply only to Canadians, but will then be extended to Americans and then other international travellers.
Business owners and travel/tourism groups have repeatedly called for an end to testing for fully vaccinated travellers coming into Canada. Together with the Canadian Travel and Tourism Roundtable, Canadian business leaders today made the request again.
“A pre-departure PCR test for arrivals into Canada runs counter to the recommendations made by the Canadian federal government’s COVID-19 Testing and Screening Expert Advisory Panel, which concluded that fully vaccinated travellers should not require a pre-departure test for a trip of any duration. Travel measures should be based on a traveller’s vaccination status and should be consistent with the recommendation of the Government Expert Panel,” the groups said.
“The Canadian government’s mandatory pre-departure PCR test to enter the country leads international travellers to do business elsewhere and discourages cross-border commerce, trade, and travel.”
La Presse quotes Canadian Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos as saying that several rule changes could be announced.
“Decisions on border issues will be taken very soon and they will be announced very soon,” he said.
“Anything that reduces the level of requirement here is good, so it’s a step forward,” Canadian Chamber of Commerce president Perrin Beatty told Global News.
“What it does is to get rid of one absurdity. But it leaves in place another absurdity. And that is that the the expert task force, when they looked at it, said the decisions on the border should be based on vaccination status,” he said.
Trudeau is currently in Washington DC for the Three Amigos summit with top officials from Mexico and the U.S.
