(CN) — Over one year after closing its borders to non-essential travel due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the Canadian government announced Monday the country will be reopening to vaccinated tourists beginning with U.S. citizens and permanent residents on Aug. 9, and then to everyone else on Sept. 7.
Officials cited the hard work of Canadians in getting the pandemic under control, rising vaccination rates and declining Covid-19 cases as reasons for its reopening plans. They plan to use the window between when Americans and the rest of the world are cleared to enter to adjust border control measures and make sure they’re ready for an expected influx of passengers.
Interested travelers will need to have received a government-approved vaccine at least 14 days before entering the country — that means Moderna, Pfizer, AstraZeneca or Johnson & Johnson. Visitors won’t be forced to quarantine, but they will have to show proof of a negative Covid-19 test result before stepping on Canadian soil. Officials will also be randomly selecting individuals to take a post-arrival test, but that won’t apply to the vast majority of travelers.
"Canadians' safety and security always come first. With rising vaccination rates and fewer cases in Canada, we can begin to safely ease border measures,” said Patty Hajdu, Canada’s Minister of Health, in a related statement. “A gradual approach to reopening will allow our health authorities to monitor the COVID-19 situation here and abroad. Canadians have worked hard and sacrificed for each other, and because of that work, we can take these next steps safely."
Effective Aug. 9, 2021 international passenger flights will also be allowed to land at the following airports: Halifax Stanfield, Québec City Jean Lesage, Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier, Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson and Edmonton international airports. These airports have already begun implementing increased safety measures to welcome visitors.
"The easing of Canada's border measures is welcome news for tourism businesses across the country, the thousands of Canadians employed by the sector and the communities who rely on it,” said Melanie Joly, Canada’s Minister of Economic Development, in a related statement. “It has been a challenging year as we balance the need to protect both the health of Canadians and our economy but tourism businesses have demonstrated incredible resilience. Our government has been proud to be by their side since the beginning of this crisis and we will continue to be there as they prepare to begin to welcome vaccinated travelers from around the world to our beautiful shores."
The Canadian government did include one important caveat in its announcement — if the situation changes and the domestic epidemiological situation declines, due to something like the delta variant spreading among vaccinated populations, these reopening plans could still be put on hold.
Courthouse News asked Canada’s Public Health Agency about the possibility of a delay in these plans due to the delta variant.
“Canada has developed a risk-based and data driven approach to easing our international border measures, based on key public health criteria including domestic infection rates and vaccination levels, effectiveness of vaccines against circulating variants, healthcare capacity and the international epidemiological context,” a spokesperson responded. “Community transmission is lowering, but now is not the time to let our vigilance down. Our improving situation is not indicative of the global context in which a number of countries are once again reporting increased cases. Known variants of concern continue to circulate, and the possibility that new variants may emerge remains.”
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