Since Saturday morning, the health instructions applicable to travelers to stem COVID-19 are no longer in effect in Canada. It is therefore no longer necessary to have proof of vaccination to board a plane or to wear a mask.
Some travelers say they face the changes with mixed feelings of relief and worry as they face an uncertain winter and signs that the number of cases is on the rise.
However, if the mask is no longer mandatory, it remains recommended.
As for visitors entering the country, they are no longer randomly tested and unvaccinated people no longer have to self-isolate upon arrival.
Anyone who has arrived in Canada for two weeks, and who therefore had to isolate themselves, is now freed from this constraint.
In addition, travelers arriving in the country no longer have to submit a form through the controversial ArriveCan app. However, it is still possible to use it to submit a declaration to border services at certain airports.
Two B.C. residents, Joanne and Ted Parker, said they would have preferred the rules to stay in place for masks, even though they are still recommended.
“I think they’re great protection,” Joanne Parker said while waiting at Toronto’s Lester B. Pearson International Airport. And if one person wears them, it’s not very useful, but if everyone wears them, it really is. »
But she added that she had already come to terms with the likelihood of mask rules going away for good.
Earlier this week, when the couple flew out of Pearson airport, they noticed some people flouting the restrictions days before they were lifted, including another passenger who she said ignored the request for a flight attendant to keep his mask on.
“I didn’t like it, but I wasn’t going to say anything because I figured at the end of the week it would be fine anyway,” she said.
Ted Parker suggested there are “pros and cons” to lifting the latest travel restrictions related to COVID-19. He hopes one of the benefits will be reduced delays at airports, as people entering Canada will no longer have to complete the ArriveCan app and will no longer be subject to random mandatory testing for the disease.
“When you just look around, just the occasional sighting indicates that people are not wearing masks,” he said, adding that he remained concerned about new variants of COVID-19.
“After two and a half years, I think people are fed up. They want to regain some semblance of normalcy. »
Another Pearson airport traveler said her biggest concern wasn’t the change in mask rules or the elimination of mandatory random testing, but rather the stories she’s heard of people losing their luggage For days.
That’s why Mary Bertani packed a small carry-on bag for her flight to New York instead of her regular checked baggage.
The Pickering, Ont., resident said she didn’t take her eyes off her things.
As for COVID-19 precautions, she mentioned that she was not worried about herself, pointing out that she planned to wear a mask and had been vaccinated against the virus.
Earlier this week, federal ministers announced the end of health guidelines related to COVID-19. They said the most recent wave of spread of the disease was waning and the guidelines applied to travelers were not having a major impact.
The Minister of Health, Jean-Yves Duclos, nevertheless warned that instructions could be imposed again, if necessary.
Brian Feeney flew to Toronto from Boston on Saturday morning, and estimated that about half of the passengers on his flight wore a mask.
He also chose to wear a mask on the flight because he was sitting close to people, he said, although he took the mask off once he got to the airport.
“I think it’s quite a good thing that the rules are changing,” he said. According to him, it is a personal choice whether to wear a mask or not.