The federal government has announced a suspension of vaccine mandates for federal employees and for passengers wishing to board a plane or train in Canada.
Starting June 20, vaccines will no longer be required for travellers in Canada. Visitors and Canadian citizens entering the country from abroad will still be required to meet entry requirements and masks will remain mandatory for those boarding planes or trains in Canada.
Federal employees and transportation workers in federally regulated sectors will no longer have to be fully vaccinated as a condition of their work. Those on unpaid administrative leave because of their vaccination status will be invited to return to work.
Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs Dominic LeBlanc told reporters that while some mandates are being suspended, the federal government will bring them back if the COVID-19 situation changes for the worse.
“Today’s announcement is possible because Canadians have stepped up to protect each other,” LeBlanc said. “We are now able to adjust our policy because we have followed consistently the best advice from public health authorities.”
LeBlanc said that the federal government does not regret its cautious approach to lifting mandates, adding that Ottawa’s policies saved lives.
The vaccine mandates for travel have been in effect since Oct. 30, 2021. As the mandates were phased in, travellers had a one-month grace period during which they could instead provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test.
The government has been under pressure from opposition parties and industry organizations to relax some public health measures in response to delays and long lineups at airports.
When the vaccine mandate came into effect for travel, Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said it was to keep travellers and employees in the industry safe.
Meeting requirements
Unvaccinated Canadians have always been allowed to return to Canada. But the federal government’s website says unvaccinated Canadians have to meet all “pre-entry, arrival, Day-8 testing, ArriveCAN and quarantine requirements”
or face a fine up to $5,000 or criminal prosecution.
Infectious diseases specialist Dr. Isaac Bogoch said that while two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine protects against severe illness or death, it’s time to end the travel mandates.
“The purpose was to really prevent transmission of COVID-19 in transportation,” he said. “Two doses doesn’t really provide much in the way of protection against getting the infection and onward transmission of the infection for those who are infected.”
WATCH: ‘Right time’ to end vaccine travel mandates, says specialist
It’s reasonable for Ottawa to drop the COVID-19 vaccine mandates for travel, says infectious diseases specialist, Dr. Isaac Bogoch, noting two doses doesn’t prevent Omicron transmission.
Government officials — including Alghabra, Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos and Chief Public Health Officer Theresa Tam — have pointed to mandates as an effective way of getting more Canadians vaccinated.
But experts have questioned the effectiveness of vaccine mandates for travel since the emergence of the more infectious Omicron variant. Tam has said that effective protection against the variant requires a third booster dose.
So far, the government’s definition of “fully vaccinated” remains two doses of an approved COVID-19 vaccine or one dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.
Last week, the federal government announced that it was suspending random COVID-19 testing at airports.
At that time, Alghabra said Ottawa was taking other measures to address airport congestion, such as hiring more security screening personnel and adding more customs kiosks at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport.
