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House Hansard - 88

44th Parl. 1st Sess.
June 14, 2022 10:00AM
Context: House Hansard - 88 - Jun/14/22
Mr. Adam van Koeverden (Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Health and to the Minister of Sport, Lib.)
  • Jun/14/22 6:14:06 p.m.
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Madam Speaker, since the beginning of this pandemic, our top priority has been the health and safety of Canadians. We are more than two years into this pandemic, and our priority remains exactly the same. That is why we continue to take actions at the border. Canadians have stepped up to protect themselves and the people around them from COVID-19 by getting vaccinated. Today, nearly 90% of the eligible population has been vaccinated, case counts have decreased and the rates of hospitalizations and deaths are also decreasing across this country. Indeed, we continue to have access to vaccines, boosters, therapeutics and rapid tests. This allows us to be more flexible in our approach at the borders, and it also means that Canada has one of the lowest death rates in the world. That is why we have eased some of the requirements for vaccinated travellers in recent months, including our decision to move COVID-19 testing for all travellers off-site. The Government of Canada will pause mandatory random testing at airports between June 11 and June 30 as we transition to a model whereby testing occurs outside of airports. Additionally, our government announced today that as of June 20, it will suspend vaccination requirements for domestic and outbound travel, federally regulated transportation sectors and federal government employees. While the suspension of vaccine mandates reflects our improved public health situation in Canada, the COVID-19 virus continues to evolve and circulate in Canada and globally. Given this context and because vaccination rates and virus control in other countries vary significantly, current vaccination requirements at the border will remain in effect. This will reduce the potential impact of international travel on our health care system and serve as added protection against any future variant. Other public health measures, such as wearing a mask, continue to apply and will be enforced throughout a traveller's journey on a plane or a train. Our government's decision to suspend the mandatory vaccination requirement for the domestic transportation sector was informed by key indicators that include the evolution of this virus, the epidemiological situation and modelling, the stabilization of infection and hospitalizations across the country, vaccine science and high levels of vaccination in Canada against COVID-19. Our government will continue to evaluate measures and will not hesitate to make adjustments based on the latest public health advice and science to keep Canadians and the transportation system safe and secure. Canadian citizens and Canadian permanent residents returning from international destinations who do not qualify for the fully vaccinated traveller exemption continue to be required to provide a valid pre-entry test result and remain subject to day one and day eight molecular testing, as well as quarantine for 14 days. In addition, all travellers entering Canada are required to input their mandatory information in ArriveCAN within 72 hours before their arrival in Canada. Travellers who arrive without completing their ArriveCAN submission may be subject to day one and day eight molecular testing, as well as to quarantine for 14 days and fines for other enforcement actions, regardless of their vaccination status. Some exemptions remain in place for certain unvaccinated travellers. For example, agricultural temporary foreign workers, resettled refugees, asylum seekers and those with a medical exemption would also be permitted to enter. Our government recognizes that for weeks there have been various issues causing delays at airports, and we continue to work closely with airport authorities, airlines, testing providers and many other partners to manage traveller flow and make sure travellers are processed as efficiently as possible.
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