A program that allows Canadian travellers to speed through security and U.S. customs could be back to full strength by spring. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and U.S. President Joe Biden met yesterday in Mexico City. Following the meeting, it was announced that the Nexus travel program is slowly returning to “normal” operation. Officials said the agreement between the U.S. Customs and Border Protection office (CBP) and the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) will allow Nexus offices to re-open in select Canadian airports. Nexus offices in other locations have been open for the past year or so, but a dispute Read more
Justin Trudeau
Canadian airlines could soon face tougher rules for delays and cancellations, a top official in the Justin Trudeau government says. Speaking in the wake of a bad bout of holiday travel chaos that left hundreds of Canadians stranded over Christmas and New Year’s, Transport Minister Omar Alghabra says the country’s recently-updated air passenger protection rules could be in for more changes that would help consumers. Alghabra told the CBC he’s looking at rules that would put the onus on airlines to deal with complaints, and not force consumers to file complaints with the Canadian Transport Agency (CTA). “Last summer and Read more
A prominent Liberal in the Justin Trudeau government says he wants to hear from Sunwing and VIA Rail about the travel chaos that many Canadians endured over the holidays. MP Peter Schiefke, the Member of Parliament for Vaudreuil-Soulanges in Quebec and chair of the federal government’s transportation and infrastructure committee, tweeted on Tuesday that both companies need to be held accountable for a disastrous holiday season. Sunwing cancelled flights between Canada and Mexico a couple days before Christmas, leaving hundreds of Canadians stranded during the holidays. Passengers on a VIA Rail train headed from Ottawa to Toronto were forced to Read more
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says Canadian airlines are “breaking their word” with the public and that the Trudeau government isn’t doing enough to help Canadian travellers left stranded at airports across the country. Speaking with journalists in Ottawa on Friday, Poilievre laid the blame for the chaos endured by thousands of Canadian passengers over the last week at the foot of Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, arguing airports and airlines are federally regulated and therefore a responsibility of the federal government, Global News reports. “This is a federal problem,” Poilievre said. The lead-up to Christmas was a disaster for many Canadian Read more
The Tourism Industry Association of Canada (TIAC) says it’s “heartened” by news that Canada will drop its COVID-19 vaccine border requirements by the end of September, make the ArriveCan application optional, and end the outstanding random COVID-19 testing for travellers. A southern Ontario MP went much further, saying delays in changing the rules badly damaged Canada’s tourism economy. Published reports say Prime Minister Justin Trudeau yesterday signed off on the concept. Ottawa brought in the rules under an order-in-council earlier this year, but that order expires on September 30. Which would mean Canadians and other travellers will have a new Read more
