Canada Lifts Covid Vaccine Mandate For International Travelers

Topline

Canada will drop its Covid-19 vaccine requirement for visitors entering the country starting October 1, officials announced Monday, reopening the Canadian border to unvaccinated travelers for the first time since the worldwide coronavirus vaccination campaign began.

Key Facts

Canadian and foreign travelers will no longer need to submit proof of vaccination or pre-travel testing or go into quarantine or isolation upon entering the country starting Saturday.

In a statement on Monday, Canada’s Public Health Agency said the country is lifting the requirements due to its high vaccination rate along with low coronavirus hospitalization and death rates, increased availability of vaccine boosters and rapid tests, and the peak of the BA.4 and BA.5 coronavirus waves passing.

The move comes one week after Canadian members of Parliament and border-city mayors wrote a letter calling on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and U.S. President Joe Biden to lift “unnecessary” travel restrictions that they argue have hurt border cities even as “both countries have largely returned to normal daily life.”

Canada now joins a list of 85 countries and territories without Covid-19 entry requirements, following similar moves by Japan last month, as well as Mexico, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Ireland, Iceland, Italy, Jamaica, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Argentina and Chile.

Tangent

Non-U.S. citizens traveling into the United States by air, sea or land still need to be fully vaccinated under U.S. policy. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention requires full vaccination (not including a booster dose) for non-U.S. citizens before boarding a flight, with limited exceptions for children under 18, people traveling for foreign government work and people with certain medical conditions that prevent them from receiving a vaccine.

Key Background

Covid-19 cases in Canadian provinces are well below their January peak, and Covid-related hospitalizations are also on the decline, according to government data. Roughly 85.4% of Canadians have received at least one dose of the vaccine, while 82% (31.39 million) have completed their primary dose series. Despite the high vaccination rate, Canadian officials had come under fire for strict vaccine mandates at the country’s border with the United States, most notably in January, when truck drivers unhappy with the vaccine rules protested across the country and formed a disruptive blockade in Ottawa. Trudeau invoked emergency measures to disband the blockade. Prior to Monday’s announcement, Canada had required full primary vaccination for non-Canadian citizens entering the country, with only a few exceptions for workers like fishermen, as well as people coming for medical treatment, people with medical conditions and people coming for funerals.

What To Watch For

Canada’s Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos thanked Canadians for high vaccination rates, but said “we expect Covid-19 and other respiratory viruses will continue to circulate over the cold months.” He urged people to get vaccine booster shots and “exercise individual public health measures.”

Further Reading

Border vaccine rules, mandatory use of ArriveCAN, mask mandates on planes, trains end Oct. 1 (CBC)

Canada To Drop Vaccine Requirement, Make ArriveCan Optional For Travelers (Forbes)

Canada to remove all COVID travel restrictions from Oct 1 (Reuters)