Laura Osman
The Canadian Press
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The airports affected are those of Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary.
Ottawa had suspended random testing for fully vaccinated air travelers on June 11, the time to put in place a system allowing these tests to be done outside airports.
At that time, the federal government was facing a lot of criticism from stakeholders in the tourism and air transport sector, who believed that the measures in place were responsible for the long delays at airports.
The Canadian Travel and Tourism Roundtable had in particular almost pleaded with federal ministers to permanently lift the requirement for random testing, since these “outdated rules” caused significant delays at customs, queues of several hours and damaged Canada’s reputation.
Despite the suspension of testing, the chaos at airports has continued in recent weeks.
Deputy Chief Public Health Officer Dr.r Howard Njoo, said Thursday that random testing is an important part of Canada’s strategy to detect new variants coming into the country.
“It’s very important to gather evidence to guide other public health measures,” he said.
All screening tests will therefore be carried out outside airports, either in person at certain locations such as stores or pharmacies, or during a virtual appointment for a self-screening test.
To be considered fully immunized, travelers must have received a primary series of a COVID-19 vaccine accepted for travel by the Government of Canada, at least 14 days prior to entry into Canada.
Travelers who are not considered fully vaccinated, unless exempt, should continue to be tested on Day 1 and Day 8 of their mandatory 14-day quarantine.
Air travelers selected for mandatory random testing will receive an email notification within 15 minutes of submitting their customs declaration, including information to help them arrange for testing with a provider within their region.
If the test result is positive, the traveler will be required to self-isolate for 10 days from the date the result is received, per federal requirements.
Travelers must continue to use the ArriveCAN app or website to provide required travel information within 72 hours of arriving in Canada or before boarding a cruise ship bound for Canada.
“We must maintain the measures related to border screening since this is how we follow the importation of the virus responsible for COVID-19 and the worrying variants”, explained the Federal Minister of Health, Jean-Yves Duclos, by press release.
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Laura Osman
The Canadian Press
–
The airports affected are those of Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary.
Ottawa had suspended random testing for fully vaccinated air travelers on June 11, the time to put in place a system allowing these tests to be done outside airports.
At that time, the federal government was facing a lot of criticism from stakeholders in the tourism and air transport sector, who believed that the measures in place were responsible for the long delays at airports.
The Canadian Travel and Tourism Roundtable had in particular almost pleaded with federal ministers to permanently lift the requirement for random testing, since these “outdated rules” caused significant delays at customs, queues of several hours and damaged Canada’s reputation.
Despite the suspension of testing, the chaos at airports has continued in recent weeks.
Deputy Chief Public Health Officer Dr.r Howard Njoo, said Thursday that random testing is an important part of Canada’s strategy to detect new variants coming into the country.
“It’s very important to gather evidence to guide other public health measures,” he said.
All screening tests will therefore be carried out outside airports, either in person at certain locations such as stores or pharmacies, or during a virtual appointment for a self-screening test.
To be considered fully immunized, travelers must have received a primary series of a COVID-19 vaccine accepted for travel by the Government of Canada, at least 14 days prior to entry into Canada.
Travelers who are not considered fully vaccinated, unless exempt, should continue to be tested on Day 1 and Day 8 of their mandatory 14-day quarantine.
Air travelers selected for mandatory random testing will receive an email notification within 15 minutes of submitting their customs declaration, including information to help them arrange for testing with a provider within their region.
If the test result is positive, the traveler will be required to self-isolate for 10 days from the date the result is received, per federal requirements.
Travelers must continue to use the ArriveCAN app or website to provide required travel information within 72 hours of arriving in Canada or before boarding a cruise ship bound for Canada.
“We must maintain the measures related to border screening since this is how we follow the importation of the virus responsible for COVID-19 and the worrying variants”, explained the Federal Minister of Health, Jean-Yves Duclos, by press release.
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