If you have intended to visit Canada, we have some good news for you, as the country is currently considering opening its borders. According to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the process will be gradual, prioritizing fully vaccinated persons. Whether you are coming into the country or leaving its borders, it will be necessary to have gone through the whole vaccination process. The decision to open borders is due to the declining cases of covid 19 in Canada, the united states, and other parts of the world.
During a virtual event held on June 7th, the Prime Minister confirmed the country’s fear for a fourth wave. Another outbreak would harm the economy and pervert efforts already put in containing the spread of the virus. Trudeau didn’t, however, relay information on what form of evidence they would require from persons crossing the border.
The Canadian government is still laying out the phased-in approach. According to the Prime Minister’s statement, they need to consider information on the covid-19 cases and the rates of vaccination. The country will probably allow fully vaccinated travelers in and out of their country without quarantine as long as they test negative for the Covid-19 virus.
On a different occasion (June 8th), the Prime Minister repeated the same message that the government would only allow fully vaccinated people to cross its border. He said that the government would use science-based steps to ease their borders. These science-based facts are the low risk of infection and transmission of the virus among fully vaccinated persons. By taking in vaccinated persons, the country will have ruled out the possibility of importing the virus and overburdening their health systems once more.
We are, however, uncertain about the actual border reopening dates. Nevertheless, Trudeau had stated that there was a need for the country to ease its border restrictions. To achieve this, they would need to have 75% of Canadian residents vaccinated with the first dose and 20% fully vaccinated with the two doses before the country reopens its borders.
According to reports from a meeting held between the border-city mayors and Public Safety Minister Bill Blair, Canada should meet this threshold before the expiry of the current travel restrictions on June 21st. Although Blair didn’t give a definite border reopening date, some sources suggest the earliest that would happen is late June. However, some government officials are in doubt of the possibility of the first phase taking place before the end of June, stating the likelihood of the borders reopening in July. According to the meeting held with Blair, June 21st would see 75% of Canadians fully vaccinated.
The Prime Minister will be attending G7 meetings scheduled this week. The meeting will be looking into having international vaccine passports that will allow fully vaccinated people to gain access to the participating countries.
