WestJet and the Tourism Industry Association of Canada say they welcome today’s announced changes to Canada’s travel rules. But both groups, along with the Association of Canadian Travel Agencies, say tourism and the travel industry won’t recover as long as there are still pre-arrival testing laws in place. “The WestJet Group welcomes today’s announcement from the federal government outlining changes to Canada’s border measures and travel policies,” airline officials said. “The WestJet Group will continue to advocate, based on science and data, for the removal of all measures impacting fully-vaccinated air travellers.” “As a fully-vaccinated industry, we have worked with Read more
Justin Trudeau
Starting Feb. 28, fully vaccinated travellers will no longer have to take a PCR-style test to enter Canada. Federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos today said travellers will still be required to take a pre-arrival test but will be allowed to make it a rapid antigen test, which can be purchased more easily than PCR tests, and are a fraction of the cost. Those rapid tests will have to be taken with 24 hours of a scheduled departure to Canada or 24 hours before a traveller arrives at a Canadian land border crossing, Duclos said. There were reports that the changes Read more
Multiple reports say the Canadian government will end PCR test requirementw for fully vaxxed Canadians, probably by the end of February. CTV News says a senior government source said Ottawa will change the rules so that fully vaccinated Canadians will only need to show proof of a negative rapid antigen test to get back into the country, rather than a PCR test. The network said the Trudeau government is “set to remove those requirements at the end of the month.” The CBC says its sources also indicate the move is imminent. The current rules require travellers coming into Canada to Read more
The Canadian government says it should be able to announce changes to COVID-19 travel restrictions next week. Speaking at a press event today in Ottawa, Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said that “the worst of Omicron is behind us” and that “we should be able to communicate changes next week.” Canada has been requiring all travellers, including Canadians with two vaccinations or even two vaccinations and a booster, to take a PCR-style COVID-19 test within 72 hours of their scheduled departure. That rule has come under increasing fire, with two well-known Canadian doctors on Thursday calling the testing “futile” and “obsolete.” Read more
Air Transat workers are calling for the Justin Trudeau government to ease travel restrictions. “The airline sector is without a doubt one of the most restricted by federal public health regulations. Our members and passengers must be vaccinated, PCR tests are required before boarding a flight and a test is required upon arrival in Canada,” said Dominic Levasseur, president of the Air Transat Flight Attendant Union. “These measures are extremely costly for travellers as well as for the government. If these measures are not eased out soon, hundreds of jobs are at risk in Montreal, Toronto and Vancouver. The government’s Read more
