Canada to ease entry rules for vaccinated international travellers

OTTAWA • Canada will ease entry for fully vaccinated international travellers starting on Feb 28, as Covid-19 cases decline, allowing a rapid antigen test for travellers instead of a molecular one, officials have said.

The new measures unveiled on Tuesday, which include random testing for vaccinated travellers entering Canada, were announced by federal government ministers at a briefing. Canada will also drop coronavirus testing requirements for fully vaccinated Canadians who make short trips - less than 72 hours - abroad, Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said.

"These changes are possible not only because we have passed the peak of Omicron, but because Canadians across the country have listened to the science and to experts," Mr Duclos told reporters.

About 80 per cent of Canadians are fully vaccinated and over 40 per cent have also taken a booster dose, according to the Health Ministry. The global travel advisory for Canadians is also being changed. Previously the government recommended against all non-essential travel, and now it is only urging citizens to take precautions.

"Though today's announcement brings us one step closer to where our industry needs to be, in requiring pre-departure rapid antigen tests, the government missed an opportunity to align with other international jurisdictions that removed pre-departure test requirements for fully vaccinated travellers," the Canadian Travel and Tourism Roundtable industry group said in a statement.

Ms Suzanne Acton-Gervais, the interim president of the National Airlines Council of Canada, said the announcement by the federal government "is a step forward both for travellers, our industry, and for the Canadian economy, which relies on trade and tourism".

Several provinces, including Alberta, Saskatchewan, Quebec and Ontario - the most populous province - have announced a relaxation of restrictions imposed during the pandemic as infection rates fall. Ontario on Monday said it will speed up its plan to remove proof-of-vaccination requirements and lift pandemic-related capacity limits for many businesses, while the western province of Alberta ended its mask requirements for school children on Monday.

Protesters have blocked border crossings and paralysed the centre of Ottawa in Ontario for weeks, demanding that governments roll back pandemic restrictions. Provincial premiers have denied loosening restrictions to appease them, saying instead that the limits are no longer needed to contain Covid-19.

The chief of police who had led the effort to end the occupation of Ottawa resigned on Tuesday, a day after Prime Minister Justin Trudeau intervened amid criticisms that a tepid police response has failed to end the blockade buffeting the nation's capital.

REUTERS