If the Canadian travel industry is counting on public pressure to get Ottawa to ease travel restrictions, they’re in a bit of trouble. A new poll from Angus Reid finds the Canadian public is still high on testing and vaccination requirements for travel outside of the country. The poll found that slightly more than three in five Canadians are in favour of testing at the border. Asked if they support mandatory COVID testing to travel internationally or cross the border with the U.S., 61% said they’re in favour. Even in Alberta, 49% of respondents are on board with border testing. Read more
travel restrictions
Good news from the island of Ireland. As of yesterday, March 6, all COVID-19 travel restrictions have been removed for travelling to the Republic of Ireland. Visitors will no longer need to complete a passenger locator form to travel, nor will they need proof of vaccination or recovery, or a COVID-19 test. However, all passengers who plan to transit through Ireland to visit Northern Ireland will still be required to follow the UK travel requirements, including completing an United Kingdom Passenger Locator Form https://www.nidirect.gov.uk/information-and-services/coronavirus-covid-19/travel-advice-and-guidance Following examples of other European countries, authorities in Ireland have also lifted the majority of restrictions Read more
West Coast business and tourism/travel leaders are calling on the Trudeau government to eliminate travel and testing restrictions for people coming into Canada. Together with the Canadian Travel and Tourism Roundtable, Vancouver-area business and Indigenous tourism leaders and industry associations, including the Indigenous Tourism Association of Canada, the Tourism Industry Association of British Columbia, and the Vancouver Board of Trade, have come together to urge the federal government to remove unnecessary and non-science-based obstacles to international travel immediately. The Roundtable is calling on the government to remove the pre-departure rapid antigen test for fully vaccinated travellers by April 1, when Read more
By Jim Byers Member, Society of American Travel Writers (SATW) Canadian medical and business leaders are asking the Trudeau government to remove pre-departure testing entirely for fully vaccinated travellers. Speaking at an event in Calgary today, members of the Canadian Travel and Tourism Roundtable and other experts called on Ottawa to make the change on or before April 1, when the regulations will be updated. Continued testing targeted at solely the travel sector is both unnecessary and not rooted in science, they said. “While the federal government took a step in the right direction by altering the testing regime around Read more
In response to the Russian leadership’s invasion of Ukraine, the government of Canada today said it’s closing Canada’s airspace to all Russian aircraft operators. Minister of Transport Omar Alghabra Minister of Foreign Affairs Mélanie Joly, today announced that the Trudeau government is prohibiting the operation of Russian-owned, chartered or operated aircraft in Canadian airspace, including in the airspace above Canada’s territorial waters. “The Government of Canada is prohibiting the operation of Russian-owned, chartered or operated aircraft in Canadian airspace, including in the airspace above Canada’s territorial waters,” the Liberal government said in a press release issued at 11:19 a.m. Read more
