As of April 1, vaccinated travelers will no longer need a negative COVID-19 test to enter Canada, according to a federal government source.
The source, who is not authorized to speak publicly about the upcoming directive change, said an official announcement was expected later this week.
This change is great news, just in time for the tourist season, said Perrin Beatty, President of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce and Co-Chair of the Canadian Travel and Tourism Roundtable.
“We have seen the collapse of our international tourism and convention business over the past two years, and we were also on the verge of losing the summer tourist season,” Beatty said. He believes that anything the government can do to remove barriers at the border will help convince travelers to choose Canada over another destination.
Similarly, it will also be easier for Canadians to return home after traveling abroad this summer.
Federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos is due to hold a virtual press conference on Thursday with Transport Minister Omar Alghabra and Tourism Minister Randy Boissonnault to announce the change.
At the end of February, the federal Minister of Health, Jean-Yves Duclos, announced that travelers arriving in Canada could present a negative rapid antigen test at the border, as an alternative to screening by molecular test (PCR), which is more expensive and more expensive. long.
More tools against COVID-19
He said at the time that he would consider further easing travel restrictions related to COVID-19 if the epidemiological situation continued to improve, if hospitalizations decreased and if Canadians continued to receive their booster doses. The minister also said the government would drop some restrictions now that Canada has more tools to deal with the pandemic.
“These tools include a monitoring system [épidémiologique] strong, a highly vaccinated population, continued access to vaccines, access to drugs inside and outside our hospital system, and increased access to rapid tests,” Duclos said on February 15.
The UK has announced plans to remove all health restrictions on travel, including proof of vaccination, but the US and Australia still require a negative test to enter.
While the management of COVID-19 cases in Canada has improved in recent weeks, the World Health Organization (WHO) says new cases have started to rise in Europe and other parts of the world. world.
According to the most recent update from the WHO, the number of weekly cases detected worldwide increased by 8% last week, while in the Americas the number decreased by 20%. The highest numbers of newly detected cases were reported in South Korea, Vietnam, Germany, the Netherlands and France.
Perrin Beatty believes that Ottawa has been responsive in the past when it comes to raising and easing restrictions, following waves of COVID-19 for the past two years. He now hopes the government will prepare for the fall, in case COVID-19 picks up again, so that Canada can manage this episode without strict restrictions or lockdowns.