Published reports say the Justin Trudeau government in Ottawa is “expected to announce as soon as tomorrow that travellers entering Canada will no longer have to take a pre-arrival COVID-19 test.”
The CBC today said sources with knowledge of the situation said Canada will remove testing requirements at airports and also at land border crossings.
CTV News says the the federal government will be lifting the pre-arrival COVID-19 testing requirement at the border for fully vaccinated travellers as of April 1.
“Passengers may still be subjected to random PCR testing at the airport, and travellers will still have to use the ArriveCan app, according to a senior government source,” the network said.
It’s not clear whether folks coming to Canada on a cruise ship would have to continue to show a negative test. That’s an important issue for popular cruise ports such as Vancouver, Victoria, Halifax, Quebec City and other cities in Canada.
Ottawa on Feb. 28 began allowing both returning residents and visitors to Canada to show results of a rapid antigen test, rather than more expensive, sometimes harder to find PCR or molecular-style tests. PCR-style tests often cost $200 USD, while rapid tests can usually be found for $25 to $30.
The tourism industry in Canada has argued that even requiring rapid tests is a barrier to travel, which hurts Canadian tourism operators, hotel owners, restaurants and others.
Initial reaction to the news was quite positive.
“The Tourism Industry Association of Canada is encouraged by news of the Government of Canada’s imminent announcement of the removal of all pre-travel testing requirements for fully vaccinated travellers as of April 1, 2022,” said TIAC president and CEO Beth Potter. “Our industry was the first hit, the hardest hit, and will be the last to recover from the global pandemic.
“We are hopeful this will effectively lay the foundation for the recovery of Canada’s tourism industry, which has a long way to go to rebuild itself back to the $105 billion economic powerhouse it was pre-pandemic.”
“This is an important and welcome step in signalling to the rest of the world that Canada is open for business and ready to welcome international visitors again,” said Christopher Bloore, president and CEO of the Tourism Industry Association of Ontario. “This is a timely boost for Ontario’s tourism industry as we begin the long process of economic recovery.
“However, we know that it will take time to rebuild international consumer confidence. So it is vital that government support programs continue at levels that recognize the reality on the frontline and doesn’t jeopardize our recovery,” he said.
At a press conference on Wednesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the federal government will keep looking at whether further measures can be eased at the border based on science, noting that he thinks “all Canadians are pretty damn tired of two years of this pandemic, and eager to get back to normal as much as possible,” the CBC reports.
Canada has been quite conservative when it comes to COVID and testing policies. But if this policy goes into place, it’s possible that Canada will no longer require testing while the United States will. As of today, the U.S. requires a visitor or returning resident/citizen to provide a negative result from a rapid antigen test taken within a day of travelling.
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Tourist season is starting and people would like to travel again.
Summer is glorious in Canada, stinking hot in much of the USA