The government of Canada announced new COVID-19 testing rules for most Canadian airports on Tuesday of last week. Six days later, we still don’t know what’s really happening. The Trudeau government announced at the time that all passengers flying into Canada from destinations other than the United States would have to be tested upon arrival. Officials who said they were worried about the Omicron variant, said travellers will have to isolate while they wait for their results, and that those results might take three days. Those tests are in addition to the requirement that anyone flying to Canada show a Read more

NIAGARA FALLS, ONTARIO – The Niagara region has a reputation for great food and fabulous wine. A weekend visit in September hammered the point home in tasty fashion. One of the top places to check out, especially given this worldwide talk of a maple syrup shortage, is the Maple Trail at Maple Leaf Place, just a minute or two north of the Falls on the Niagara Parkway. It’s a lovely, bright shop with folks who know just about everything you can imagine about maple syrup. For example, did you know that 71% of the world’s production of the sweet stuff Read more

There’s a good deal of confusion surrounding new U.S. travel rules. Air Canada says it has a solution. Air Canada has announced a series of improvements for customers to meet new U.S. government entry requirements. In partnership with Switch Health, a Canadian-based health care company, Air Canada confirms ample supply of antigen test kits available for purchase. The self-administered antigen test will allow customers to conveniently meet new U.S. government entry requirements that travellers present a negative COVID-19 test taken not more than one day prior to departure. The test result takes about 15 minutes to complete. The self-administered test Read more

WestJet today released the airline’s 10th holiday video, WestJet Christmas Miracle: A Wish Come True. This year’s theme focuses on the emotional and sentimental moments that guests missed celebrating last year due to the pandemic. “The pandemic impacted everyone’s ability to connect with families and friends for far too long and we’ve truly missed celebrating those moments with our guests,” said Richard Bartrem, WestJet Vice-President, Brand, Communications and Community Investment. “Hearing Canadians’ wishes, we knew we could do something meaningful given how important travel is to Canadians from coast-to-coast.” Over the course of two weeks, undercover and operating as a documentary Read more

New rules for anyone flying to the United States begin in a few hours. The U.S. says that passengers on any flights that depart for the U.S. after Monday, December 6 at 12:01 a.m. Eastern Time (which could be interpreted as 9:01 p.m. December 5, today, for flights departing in the Pacific time zone) must show a negative COVID-19 test taken either the day of their flight or the day before. That goes for doubly vaccinated travellers, as well. Contrary to some published reports, it’s not a 24-hour window. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention site says anyone flying Read more

I like to give folks the benefit of the doubt. But I really am wondering who’s in charge in Ottawa these days. If you read today’s Globe and Mail, you’ll find a startling story in which federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos warns Canadians flying home from any country other than the U.S. that they have to isolate while they await the results of the Trudeau government’s new requirement for on-arrival COVID testing. He’s been saying that for days, so nothing unusual there. But the Globe story goes on to say that “neither he (Duclos) nor Chief Public Health Officer Theresa Read more