LCanada has announced the relaxation of health restrictions at its borders and in particular the end of the requirement for a PCR test to enter the country, while Quebec will gradually abandon its vaccine passport. “It is time to adjust our approach,” said Jean-Yves Duclos, Federal Minister of Health, Tuesday February 15.
Canada has also lifted its recommendation to avoid travel abroad, at a time when the country has been shaken for more than two weeks by an anti-sanitary measures challenge. As of February 28, vaccinated travelers will no longer be required to present a negative PCR test when entering Canada. They will have the option of using a rapid antigen test or a molecular test, and may also be randomly tested upon arrival. Fully vaccinated travelers awaiting the result of a random test will no longer have to self-quarantine while awaiting their result.
“The gradual withdrawal” of the vaccine passport in Quebec
The Canadian government says it can relax the rules because the peak of the Omicron wave was crossed at the end of January. Canada will also lift restrictions on 12-year-olds entering the country with vaccinated adults starting in late February. They will no longer need to isolate themselves upon entering Canadian soil. The ban on international flights to all remaining airports that normally receive international flights will be lifted from February 28.
In Quebec, the Minister of Health of the French-speaking province announced for his part “the gradual withdrawal” of the vaccine passport in Quebec by March 14, following the example of several other Canadian provinces. Christian Dubé considered “the passport is less and less necessary” due to a favorable epidemiological situation. This passport was compulsory in the province to go to the cinema, to a restaurant, to a gym but also to buy alcohol or go to a department store (excluding groceries).
A lively protest movement
Quebec had since the start of the Omicron wave introduced very strict measures, prohibiting private gatherings in January and closing all restaurants, cinemas and theaters. The lifting of all sanitary measures is demanded by protesters who have blocked the federal capital Ottawa (Ontario) for more than two weeks. This movement, which started with truckers forced to get vaccinated to cross the border with the United States, prompted Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to invoke an exceptional law on Monday to try to put an end to it.
