“It’s time to adjust our approach”, said the Federal Minister of Health. Canada announced on Tuesday the easing of health restrictions at its borders and in particular the end of the requirement for a PCR test to enter the country, while Quebec will gradually abandon its vaccine passport.
The country has also lifted its recommendation to avoid travel abroad, at a time when the country has been shaken for more than two weeks by an anti-sanitary measures challenge.
As of February 28, vaccinated travelers will no longer be required to present a negative PCR test when entering Canada. They “will have the option of using a rapid antigen test or a molecular test”and can also be tested randomly when they arrive. “Travellers fully vaccinated awaiting the result of a random test will no longer have to quarantine while awaiting their result”said the Minister of Health Jean-Yves Duclos, who justified these relaxations by the fact that “the peak of the Omicron wave” was crossed at the end of January.
Canada will also lift restrictions on 12-year-olds entering the country with vaccinated adults starting in late February. They will no longer need to isolate themselves upon entering Canadian soil.
In Quebec, the Minister of Health of the French-speaking province announced for his part on Tuesday “the gradual withdrawal of the vaccine passport” by March 14. This passport was compulsory in the province to go to the cinema, to a restaurant, to a gym but also to buy alcohol or go to a department store (excluding groceries).
Quebec had since the start of the Omicron wave introduced very strict measures, prohibiting private gatherings in January and closing all restaurants, cinemas and theaters. They were gradually lifted.
The province had even, just over a month ago, thought of introducing a new tax only on the non-vaccinated who represent “a financial burden for all Quebecers”said Quebec Prime Minister François Legault before backtracking a few days later.