Trudeau Liberals continue ‘partial’ rollbacks of travel restrictions, remove mandatory isolation at quarantine hotels for foreign travellers

Cabinet quietly rewrote quarantine rules Saturday affecting cross-border travellers and signalling the imminent easing of restrictions on non-essential trips after 16 long months. They waived a rule that non-essential travel bans remain in place until 75 percent of Canadians are fully vaccinated.

This comes in light of Monday's announcement to relax travel restrictions for fully vaccinated American travellers on August 9 along the Canada-US border. Health Minister Patricia Hajdu told reporters that continued relaxation of restrictions would be a “gradual process,” according to Blacklocks.

A current Quarantine Act requirement that air travellers pay for three nights’ stay in a federally-approved hotel will be repealed August 9, said Hajdu. “Travelers will now be able to go directly to their quarantine location,” she said.

“Effective September 7, all foreigners with proof of full vaccination will be allowed into Canada,” said Hajdu. Cabinet last Saturday repealed a legal requirement that strict border controls must remain “until the Canadian population has reached over 75 percent of the domestic population vaccinated with two doses.” The current rate is fifty percent.

On Thursday, an Angus Reid Institute poll Thursday indicated that 69 percent of Canadians want a 75 percent total vaccination threshold at minimum before further border relaxations are approved.

About 40 percent of surveyed Canadians said in the same poll that the vaccine threshold should exceed 75 percent, citing concerns about greater transmission rates for the Delta variant and significant vaccine resistance in the US.

“Could you explain why you stepped away from that 75 percent?” asked a reporter. “We are not changing our measures at this time for individuals that are not fully vaccinated,” replied Minister Hajdu.

“What would be the trigger for changing the rules?” asked a reporter. “One would be our own immunization campaign,” replied Hajdu.

Public Safety Minister Bill Blair told reporters he had no assurance the United States would similarly ease travel restrictions. “Each of us faces unique and constantly changing circumstances,” said Blair.

“You’re now allowing fully-vaccinated Americans in, but the Americans are not taking reciprocal measures; how long can this imbalance continue, do you think, before it starts getting politically embarrassing for the Canadian government?” asked a reporter. “There is nothing about this that’s embarrassing,” replied Minister Blair.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer previously warned of unilateral action should Canada fail to reach an agreement on loosening border restrictions, stating:

"If an agreement cannot be reached, the United States must do two things: expand the definition of essential travel to include vaccinated Canadian citizens with family, property, educational, medical, or US business interests, and unilaterally open the northern border to those vaccinated Canadians," said Schumer in a statement.

He added: "For over a year, we have been told to follow the science, facts, and data; it's time for the US to do the same and finally take the first move in good faith to safely reopen the border to vaccinated Canadians."

“This has been very difficult,” said Blair. “I had a conversation earlier today with the border mayors of Ontario, and they made it very clear how difficult this has been for their citizens and their communities. We recognize people are anxious for the border to reopen.”

Cabinet, in a statement Easing Border Measures For Fully Vaccinated Travelers Entering Canada, said effective August 9, it will expand the number of cities for inbound flights to include Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, Montréal, Québec City and Halifax.

Travellers by air or at land crossings must have proof of vaccination, be free of COVID-19 symptoms and be available for random tests. “All travellers must still present a suitable quarantine plan,” said the notice.