A Canadian travel and tourism group is calling on Canada to lay out a plan with a clear timeline for removing travel restrictions for fully vaccinated travellers. “Canada is in a new phase of the COVID-19 pandemic – one marked by widespread vaccination and high levels of prior infection, and one which many Medical Officers of Health have called endemic,” the Canadian Travel and Tourism Roundtable said in a statement today (Feb. 14). “From Denmark and the United Kingdom to Switzerland, Ireland and Norway, many forward-thinking countries worldwide have recognized that the time has come to remove COVID-19 travel restrictions Read more
testing
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
Australia today said it will open to fully vaccinated visitors as of Feb. 21. New Zealand has a plan to welcome foreign travellers over the next six months or so. And then there’s Canada, which continues to treat the tourism and travel industry like some kind of pariah. While other countries recognize the value of travel and tourism to their economies, Canada continues its over-the-top testing regulations, which discourage Canadians from travelling abroad and also discourage visitors from spending their money in Canadian cities and towns that are desperate for tourism dollars. WestJet last month clipped its flight schedule by Read more
