Feds Say It's 'Not True' That Canada's New Travel Restrictions Have A Big Loophole
The updated rules are causing some confusion.
A federal government official has insisted that there is not “a big loophole” to avoid Canada’s latest travel restrictions following confusion about the rules for travellers from the U.S.
On December 5, Federal Transport Minister Omar Alghabra spoke to CTV News about the most recent changes to Canada’s travel measures and whether there is a workaround to avoid ramped-up testing and isolation requirements.
Per the latest restrictions for fully vaccinated travellers, incoming international air passengers will be subject to arrival testing and will be required to quarantine while they await the results.
However, this does not apply to fully vaccinated travellers coming into Canada from the U.S.
As there are no quarantine requirements for fully vaccinated travellers in the U.S. right now, this means it could be easier for some travellers to return to Canada by flying into the States and then crossing the Canada-U.S. border via land.
Describing the situation as a “big loophole,” CTV News host Evan Solomon asked whether the feds “tried to lock the front door and pretend the house is safe, but just opened the back door and people can just run in?”
“Please do not say that, because it’s not true,” Alghabra responded. He explained that travellers from the United States must be fully vaccinated and are subject to pre-departure PCR testing at all ports of entry.
He also said that almost 20% of travellers from the U.S. face random mandatory COVID-19 testing at land and air border checkpoints.
“If anybody is travelling indirectly through the United States they have to declare where they’ve been,” he continued. “And if they’ve been to any of those 10 countries they are going to be subject to quarantine and testing.”
Canada updated its travel restrictions on November 30 in response to concerns about the new Omicron variant. In addition to more testing and quarantine measures, the government placed an entry ban on foreign nationals who have recently travelled to a number of countries.
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