This may be the strongest report yet that Canada’s travel rules are about to change.
The Globe and Mail today reports that Ottawa will drop the COVID-19 vaccine requirement and end random testing on September 30, as well as make the controversial ArriveCAN app an optional feature.
The Globe said the changes haven’t been finalized by Cabinet, but that rules are set to change ten days from now. The paper said it got its information from four unnamed sources.
The paper also said the mask requirement will remain in place for passengers on trains and planes, at least for now.
A source close to the situation told me today that they’ve heard the same thing, that the federal government’s order in council that set up the vaccination mandate and mandatory ArriveCAN usage will end at the end of this month.
Global News on Tuesday also said the government will change course. A source told the network that the plan still needs to be “finalized” by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau before it can be officially announced.
I haven’t seen a single Trudeau government official deny any of the published reports on this issue. The smoke keeps billowing, but nobody in Ottawa seems ready to deny the information.
Canadian and U.S. border city mayors are keeping up the pressure to get the Trudeau government to kill the ArriveCAN app and get rid of other travel restrictions they say have badly damaged Canadian tourism.
They also want the U.S. to stop requiring proof of vaccination for non U.S. residents and immigrants. So far, there’s been no indication the U.S. will follow Canada’s lead, but many other countries have made the move lately, and Biden recently declared that the COVID-19 pandemic is “over.”
The London Free Press reports an open letter addressed to both Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and U.S. President Joe Biden, signed by 15 Canadian city mayors, seven American mayors and 16 members of Parliament, calls for getting rid of the ArriveCAN smartphone app that still must be filled out for people to cross the border into Canada. Officials say they’re calling for a return “to a normal, pre-pandemic state.”
“As elected leaders, we are standing together to call on both of your governments to remove unnecessary restrictions and allow our communities to recover,” the letter states.
The CBC reports the letter also says the current restrictions are “no longer meaningful or helpful” from a health perspective and cause harm to border communities and businesses.
Mayors and other tourism officials have complained for months that the app is confusing and discourages Americans from coming into Canada and also discourages Canadians from visiting the U.S. because they have to fill out the app form before they return. Many Canadian border cities rely heavily on U.S. visitor traffic, especially in the busy summer season, which is now over.
Published reports in both the Toronto Star and Toronto Sun this week suggested that Ottawa could soon get rid of the ArriveCAN app, and also eliminate the requirement that people coming into Canada show proof of full vaccination against COVID-19.
Sun columnist Brian Lilley said he’s had conversations with senior officials in and out of government and that signs “point to a fluid situation where final details are still being worked out but, generally speaking, most measures will be gone by the end of September.”
The current government order in council that requires the vaccine mandate is due to expire on September 30; just ten days from now.
There’s been speculation that the ArriveCAN app could become option for Canadians. They’d be able to use it for customs declarations, but wouldn’t have to enter their proof of vaccination.
