The measure will come into effect on June 20, Canadian Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said at a press conference.
Foreign travelers entering Canada will need to continue to meet all requirements, including vaccinations and use of the ArriveCAN app
underlined Mr. Alghabra.
Most travelers will have to continue to wear the mask on planes and trains
added the minister, who judges that it is a “minor inconvenience to ask travelers who are seated together in a small closed and narrow space”.
On cruise ships, vaccination of tourists and employees will remain mandatory, given the higher risks of spread linked to promiscuity between travellers.
The Minister of Transport also recommends that Canadians traveling abroad check the rules in force in the country they intend to travel to, since some jurisdictions still require proof of vaccination to be able to cross the border.
The Trudeau government faced increasing pressure from tourism and travel associations to remove mandatory travel vaccinations, to ease delays at Canada’s airports and align federal rules with provincial public health measures.
Last week, Ottawa had already announced suspension of random testing for vaccinated travelers.
For federal employees too
The change will also affect federal workers who had been placed on unpaid leave due to their vaccination status.
The government has not revealed how many employees have been furloughed, but it reports that 98.5% of 283,000 federal employees have received at least two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine.
Employees who have been suspended will be contacted by their managers so that they can resume their activities, mentioned Mona Fortier, President of the Treasury Board. The GRC and businesses under federal jurisdiction are affected by the announcement.
Earlier this year, the Public Service Alliance of Canada (AFPC) had filed a grievance once morest the government on behalf of civil servants placed on unpaid leave, but also on behalf of civil servants on telework, who also had to be vaccinated or risk losing their salary. Several other public sector unions have undertaken similar challenges.
« With the removal of the vaccination policy, we expect our unjustly punished members to be compensated. »
During the press conference, the Federal Minister of Health, Jean-Yves Duclos, recalled thatwith Omicron two doses are no longer enough, because over time the acquired immunity decreases
.
He therefore called on Canadians who have not yet done so to update their vaccination status by getting a third or even a fourth dose.
Canada trailing for 3e dose
While 86% of Canadians aged 5 and over received two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, only 55.5% of those aged 12 and over received a third dose and 34.8% of those aged 70 and over got a fourth dose.
Canada is currently in sixth place among G7 countries for third dose administration, well behind Italy, where the coverage rate is 67%.
The Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, Dominic LeBlanc, has also recalled that these relaxations might be canceled if the situation worsens once more on the front of the COVID-19.
In such a scenario, the return to the vaccination obligation would be made on the basis of triple or quadruple vaccination, underlined Minister Duclos.
