WATCH: Trudeau Liberals will work with allies to ensure Canadians have ‘the right kinds of documentation for travel’

A vaccine passport refers to an identification card which civilians would present to prove that they have been vaccinated before being allowed entry to a particular place or access to a service.

Supporters of vaccine passports have argued that they are necessary to protect public health and prevent the spread of coronavirus. On the level of international travel, vaccine passports would allow countries to ensure that foreigners are not bringing new coronavirus cases to their countries.

Opponents have expressed human rights and civil liberties concerns in regard to vaccine passports. Such opponents have suggested that medical information should be confidential between a patient and their doctor, and that it would be an invasion of privacy for the government or businesses to demand proof of vaccination for any purpose. The precedent of forcing people to be injected with a substance under the threat of losing access to services has also been criticized.

Canada is not the only country considering a vaccine passport. The United Kingdom has expressed interest in adopting such requirements for travel and is expected to begin testing internal vaccine passports in the coming weeks. The European Union is also considering such measures.

Some governments have pushed back against such passports, however, with the Governors of both Florida and Texas in the United States signing executive orders prohibiting the use of vaccine passports in their states by businesses or governments with few exceptions.