Canada’s border controls to combat the COVID-19 pandemic are among the toughest in the industrialized world.
Posted at 5:00 a.m.
In addition to being a headache for foreign travelers and for Canadians returning to the country, these control measures are a hindrance to tourism and business travel. And in this period when most countries are easing their health constraints, more and more voices are being raised to ask the federal government to update itself and relax rules “out of step with reality”.
“Canada is the only G20 country to have such strict measures,” said Manuela Goya, vice-president of public affairs for Tourisme Montréal. “We are increasingly perceived as a closed country. And it does a lot of damage to business tourism and leisure tourism. »
Michel Leblanc, president of the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal, agrees.
“Elsewhere in the world, PCR tests no longer exist,” he points out. We are dinosaurs on the planet! The real decision that is being made, country by country, is to stop asking for COVID-19 screening tests and to demand the vaccine passport. Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Denmark have already announced the abandonment of tests for vaccinated travellers. We want the government to treat air travel as it treats train travel. »
According to Mr. Leblanc, “the federal government is in a decision-making torpor”.
It’s as if Canada were in a situation of “traumatized” who can’t manage to look pragmatically at the evolution of the situation and to make the right decisions. We have to get used to different sanitary measures with the Omicron wave.
Michel Leblanc, President of the Board of Trade of Metropolitan Montreal
What makes Canada absolutely unique is that it requires fully vaccinated passengers, who moreover arrive with a negative test in their pocket, to take another PCR test upon arrival in the country.
And above all, the way this system is deployed upsets people. Travelers, Canadian or foreign, who are tested must indeed isolate themselves until they have received a negative result. However, for mysterious reasons, the disclosure of this result, in some cases, can take five days or even a week. An astonishing delay when we know that Quebecers who have undergone such a test in the Quebec health network have received their results the same day or the next day.
In Ontario, a group of doctors, together with the Canadian Travel and Tourism Roundtable, is also calling on the federal government to eliminate restrictions on foreign travel, including PCR tests.
“Ridicule kills”
Claude Diwan, head of the Quebec children’s clothing company Deux par Deux, experienced the experience when he returned from his trip at the beginning of the month.
I am really outraged to see that PCR tests are wasted on travelers who have just been tested to return to Canada with a negative PCR test and that the population is deprived of them.
Claude Diwan, co-owner of Deux par Deux
“Besides, when you have a trip to do that isn’t a tourist trip and you have to get back to your job as soon as possible, how is it possible to squeeze us in for five or six days at home when we have three doses of vaccine, a negative PCR test less than 48 hours old and no symptoms? It’s ridiculous ! Every employee I spoke to at the airport agreed with me. »
Mme Diwan adds: “We are not allowed to photograph the installation at the airport with the tables and the 50 employees who do the tests. Yes, ridicule kills. »
Overview of measures in other countries
United States
The United States requires proof of vaccination from adult travelers. From the age of 2, you must also present a negative result to a screening test dating at the latest one day before departure, if you arrive by plane. A (rapid) antigen test result is accepted.
UK
From February 11, fully vaccinated travelers will not need to be tested to travel to England. Only those who are not vaccinated will need to present a negative test, taken within two days of travel, and undergo another screening test upon arrival.
France
Fully vaccinated travelers can travel to France. They must have a negative COVID-19 screening test result, PCR or antigen, carried out no more than 48 hours before departure. Unvaccinated children 12 years of age and older must present a negative test result.
Italy
To enter Italy, travelers must present a negative, PCR or antigen test result. Unvaccinated people must isolate at home for five days and provide a negative test at the end of the isolation period.
Germany
In Germany, where a negative test is required to enter the country, PCR or antigen, tourists from areas classified as high risk for COVID-19 are not welcome. This has been the case in Canada since 1er January 2022. “Only residents of the European Union and the Schengen area, as well as travelers from designated low-risk countries, should enter Germany for tourism or non-essential reasons”, it is specified. .
Denmark
“If you are fully vaccinated or have already been infected and are able to document this, for example with a vaccination passport, you can enter from all countries without testing or self-isolation,” the Danish government says on its website. .
Australia and New Zealand
After having closed its borders for almost two years, Australia will reopen them on February 21 to fully vaccinated travelers who present a negative screening test, PCR or antigen, carried out at most 72 hours before departure. In New Zealand, borders are still closed and non-essential travel is prohibited.
Learn more
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- 59
- Number of days since the Public Health Agency of Canada advised travelers to avoid all non-essential travel abroad, regardless of their vaccination status.
GOVERNMENT OF CANADA