Canada: COVID-19 Traveling Mandates To Ease by Monday

The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) announced on Friday that the traveling COVID-19 mandates would be eased by Monday for fully vaccinated people and children regardless of their vaccination status.

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According to the PHAC announcement, one of the main changes regarding pandemic border restrictions is that partially vaccinated or non-vaccinated children up to five years old to 11, under their fully vaccinated parent or guardian company, would not have to pass the pre-entry COVID-19 test for entering Canada. The Canadian agency said that the pre-entry tests would only be required for eligible partially vaccinated or unvaccinated travelers up to 12-years-old. Children above five years old do not request to present any negative COVID-19 test upon entry.

No fully vaccinated people, regardless of age, will be required to present a plan to isolate upon their return to Canada, alongside those who have a valid medical contraindication to COVID-19 vaccines. Canadians who have been fully immunized will no longer be required to wear masks in public spaces 14 days after returning to the country.

For foreign travelers, the mandatory use of masks will remain for the duration of their travel journey while using federally-regulated means of transportation, despite their vaccination status. The travelers will be informed by border agents when they can remove their masks. The federal requirement to monitor and report in case of any symptoms of COVID-19 and to have listed the close contacts and visited places for foreigners will be dismissed on Monday.

The Canadian government is also lifting the mandates for travelers to isolate if another person in the same group develops symptoms or tests positive upon their return. According to the statements of the PHAC, there are no plans to lift the federal vaccine mandates for boarding planes, trains, or cruise ships or the mask mandates so far.

Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam said that “this kind of requirement requires ongoing evaluation. Right now, of course, within the Canadian context, Omicron BA.2 is going strong… I think it's one of the least intrusive measures but adds definitely another layer of protection. But I think, you know, one has always got to reevaluate policies over time, including the epidemiologic situation in Canada, and overseas as well,” referring to the masks mandate.

“The health and safety of Canadians remain our top priority and as vaccination levels and health-care system capacity improve, we will continue to consider further easing of measures at the borders based on science,” Jean-Yves Duclos, Health Minister, said in a statement Friday.