Canada is looking at possibly reopening its borders to other countries in early September for fully vaccinated tourists, a readout from the Prime Minister’s office suggests.
The readout also suggests that the Canada-U.S. border could be reopened by mid-August for fully vaccinated tourists, as Canada looks to restart tourism to boost the country’s economy following the coronavirus pandemic.
On July 15, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau held talks with provincial leaders and the Minister of intergovernmental affairs on several topics, including Canada’s vaccination rates and the reopening of the borders.
According to the readout, Canada could be well placed to welcome fully vaccinated tourists by mid-August from the United States and by early September from the rest of the world if its current vaccination rates and public health conditions continued.
Canada has been in active discussions with the United States regarding the reopening of the Canada-U.S. border, which has been shut since March 2020 to prevent the spread of Covid-19. If things go according to plan, Canada could welcome fully vaccinated U.S citizens and permanent residents by mid-August for tourism.
Canada is currently driving a strong vaccination program, which has ensured that around 80 per cent of its population has been given the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine already. More than 50 per cent of the population has been fully vaccinated against the coronavirus.
Previously, the Trudeau administration stated that at least 75 per cent of Canadians would need to be fully vaccinated against Covid-19 before health safety measures could be scaled back further.
Canada started its phased border reopening program on July 5, when fully vaccinated Canadian citizens and permanent residents were allowed entry into the country from overseas without having to quarantine themselves for 14 days.
Family members of Canadian residents, new immigrants, international students and skilled migrants were also exempted from Canada’s mandatory quarantine upon arrival requirement as part of the phased border reopening.
Although Canada has identified a select group of immigrants for exemption from mandatory quarantine rules, non-essential migrants are still prohibited from traveling to the country.
Following the coronavirus outbreak and subsequent lockdowns and border closures, many industries in the country have suffered, causing Canada’s economy to take a hit as well.
As such, business leaders in Canada have been urging the government to safely reopen borders to recover the country’s hardest-hit sectors, including tourism.
Canada’s current border restrictions will be effective until July 21, 2021, with more details on border reopening measures to be made available in the coming days.
