BREAKING: Trudeau Liberals to ban passenger flights from India and Pakistan

The temporary ban will start tonight and last for 30 days.

Calls for a border closure have grown since the discovery of the Indian variant in Canada. India is currently the world's largest COVID hotspot, amounting over 200,000 cases per day.

Recent flights from India were found to have virus carriers on-board.

Earlier on Thursday, Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Quebec Premier Francois Legault wrote a letter to the prime minister, calling for stricter border measures.

"The rising number and percentage of COVID-19 cases that are identified as variants is a concern for us all," the letter reads.

".... We ask you to strongly consider the following: 1. Reduce mobility of COVID-19 variants by further reducing incoming international flights. 2. Roll out further protective actions and the Canada-US land border."

Legault said later in a statement, "We would like to reinforce the measures regarding international flights (from) India and Brazil."

Flights from Brazil have not yet been suspended at this time.

New Zealand, widely considered to be a model for the world in their pandemic response, banned arrivals from India last week.

This is a breaking news article and will be updated.