TORONTO —
The federal government is easing international travel restrictions this week, with fully vaccinated foreign nationals allowed to enter Canada for non-essential purposes, such as tourism, starting Tuesday.
International travellers who meet entry conditions will not have to quarantine for 14 days upon arrival, the latest in the government of Canada’s phased border reopening plan.
Most international travellers have been barred from entering the country since the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Canada’s largest and busiest airport, Toronto Pearson International, is reminding travellers to give themselves more time when travelling and to expect delays due to increased passenger volume and COVID-19 health measures.
The Greater Toronto Airport Authority said in a statement that international travellers arriving at Pearson should prepare for the process to take up to three hours or more due to COVID-19 screening measures.
• Be fully vaccinated: travellers must have received and show proof of the full series of a vaccine (or combination of vaccines) approved by the government at least 14 days prior to entering Canada
Currently, that list of accepted vaccines includes: Pfizer-BioNtech, Moderna, AstraZeneca/Covishield and Janssen (Johnson & Johnson).
• Have a negative result from a valid pre-arrival COVID-19 molecular test, taken no more than 72 hours before their scheduled flight or their arrival at the land border crossing, or a previous positive test result taken between 14 and 180 days prior to arrival.
Antigen tests, often referred to as “rapid tests” are not accepted.
• Travellers must be asymptomatic;
• Submit their mandatory information via the ArriveCAN app or website, including proof of vaccination in English or French and a quarantine plan, within 72 hours before their arrival to Canada;
• Take a test on arrival, if selected.
Any international traveller arriving before 12:01 a.m. EDT Sept. 7 will not be allowed to enter Canada, and must submit their information using ArriveCAN before they board their flight. Those who are unable to show their ArriveCAN receipt will not be able to board.
As of August 9, fully vaccinated travellers do not need to take a test upon arrival unless they are randomly selected to complete one. All travellers randomly selected for a test must complete it, but they do not need to quarantine while awaiting the result.
VACCINATED PARENTS TRAVELLING WITH UNVACCINATED CHILDREN
As of Aug. 9, unvaccinated children under 12 travelling with fully vaccinated parents or guardians are exempt from quarantine, but must follow enhanced public health measures, which includes not attending daycare or school for 14 days.
Unvaccinated children aged 12 to 17 and dependent children 18-years or older are allowed to enter Canada with a fully vaccinated parent or guardian but are subject to the 14-day quarantine measure.
All unvaccinated children (except those under five years of age) will have to take a COVID-19 test on day one and day eight of their arrival into Canada.
ELIGIBLE TRAVELLERS WHO ARE NOT FULLY VACCINATED
There are no changes to the testing and quarantine requirements for travellers who are not fully vaccinated but are eligible to enter Canada – such as Canadian citizens, permanent residents or persons registered under the Indian Act. Those travellers are still subject to quarantine, all testing requirements (pre-arrival, day one and day eight) and the mandatory submission of travel, contact and quarantine plan via ArriveCAN.
FLIGHTS FROM MOROCCO AND INDIA REMAIN SUSPENDED
Canada has suspended direct commercial and private passenger flights from India until at least Sept. 21 and from Morocco until at least Sept. 29. While the suspensions are in place, passengers who travel to Canada from India and Morocco via an indirect route will need to obtain a valid pre-departure COVID-19 molecular test result from a third country – other than India and Morocco – before continuing on their journey to Canada.
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
