Canada Urged to Lift COVID-19 Travel Restrictions

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) is again urging Canada to lift its COVID-19 travel restrictions, calling the country “a total outlier in managing COVID-19 and travel.”

According to Breaking Travel News, the IATA believes Canada’s COVID-19 travel restrictions are partly responsible for the ongoing delays and disruption affecting air travelers across the country.

Canada has become a total outlier in managing COVID-19 and travel. While governments across the globe are rolling back restrictions, the Government of Canada is reinstating them. The Government should follow the lead of its peers, including, for example, Australia. While that country had some of the toughest travel restrictions during the height of the pandemic, it has now lifted these, including the vaccination requirement. Rather than following this example and enabling travel and tourism to recover, those in power in Canada believe that throwing more red tape at the pandemic is the way forward,” said Peter Cerda, IATA’s Regional Vice President for the Americas, in a statement reported by Breaking Travel News.

According to Forbes, Canada restarted random COVID testing for incoming travelers to four of its major airports: Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, and Vancouver, on July 19. The random tests will be carried out regardless of vaccination status.

If the arrival test is positive, a 10-day isolation is required.

Currently, all unvaccinated travelers to Canada must quarantine for 14 days and continue to test on day 1 and day 8.