Vaccinated travellers will no longer require a negative COVID-19 test to enter Canada starting April 1, according to the federal government in Ottawa.
The change in travel policy comes in time for the start of tourist season and should make it easier for Canadians to return home after an international getaway.
In February, Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos announced travellers coming to Canada would be able to present a negative rapid-antigen test at the border as an alternative to a more costly and time-consuming molecular test.
At the time, the minister said he would consider easing COVID-19 travel restrictions further if the epidemiological situation continued to improve, hospitalizations diminished and Canadians continued to get their booster shots.
He also said the government would move away from stiff restrictions now that Canada has more tools to deal with the pandemic.
“These tools include the strong surveillance system, a highly vaccinated population, continued access to vaccines, access to therapeutics both in and outside our hospital system and increasing access to rapid tests,” Duclos said in February.
While the United Kingdom announced plans to drop all COVID-19 restrictions on travel, including a vaccine requirement, the United States and Australia still require a negative COVID-19 test to enter their countries.
While Canada's handle on COVID-19 cases has been improving over the last several weeks, the World Health Organization says rates have begun to creep up in Europe and other parts of the world.
The global weekly case count is trending up by eight per cent, according to the WHO's latest update, while case counts in the Americas have declined by 20%. There is also a major outbreak of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 taking place in China right now.
