The head of the union for Canadian Customs workers says the Canadian government has steadily decreased the number of border employees over the years. They’re calling on the Trudeau government to increase workers at the border and ease logjams that are bedeviling passengers flying into Canadian airports. “As travelers arriving at Canada’s international airports continue to experience extensive delays, the National President of the Customs and Immigration Union (CIU) is calling upon the Minister of Public Safety and the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) to increase the number of border services officers assigned to passenger operations in Canadian airports and Read more
Justin Trudeau
The Canadian government said it’s doing its best to cope with a spike in demand for passports and long passport processing times. “With pandemic restrictions easing around the world, interest in travel is growing among Canadians, and demand for new or renewed passports is growing along with it,” officials in the Trudeau government said today. “Service Canada is experiencing increases in passport processing times, and is responding by prioritizing those travelling imminently and ensuring that those with less urgent needs can access the right service channels for them. “Service Canada’s ability to serve Canadians swiftly was affected by the unprecedented Read more
Canada isn’t ditching its mask rules for airplane and train passengers, at least not yet. A U.S. federal court judge on Monday quashed the U.S. masking law. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) in the States then announced it would no longer enforce masking rules on airlines. Canadian Transport Minister Omar Alghabra on Tuesday gave no indication that the Trudeau government plans to drop its masking requirement for air and train passengers in Canada in the near future, according to the CBC. “We constantly consult our experts and whenever the advice that we receive changes because the circumstances change, we will Read more
A new era has come for travel to Canada today (April 1, 2022). As of April 1, fully vaccinated residents and visitors coming into Canada no longer have to show a negative result from a COVID-19 test. That means Canadians can travel out of the country and not have to worry about finding an expensive COVID-19 test. They also don’t have to worry that they’ll be denied entry to the country because of a positive test result. It also means foreign visitors can avoid pricey tests and the worry of testing positive prior to their flight. Read more
Reuters reports that the U.S. Travel Association is urging President Joe Biden “to lift COVID-19 travel restrictions and repeal a mandate requiring masks on airplanes and in other transit modes by April 18.” The news outlet says it has seen a letter from the group to Dr. Ashish Jha, the incoming White House COVID response coordinator, that calls for an immediate end to the pre-departure testing requirement for all fully vaccinated inbound international persons and ending the mask mandate by April 18 “or announcing a plan and timeline to repeal the federal mask mandate within the subsequent 90 days.” “It Read more
