LifeSiteNews has produced an extensive COVID-19 vaccines resources page. View it here.
OTTAWA, Ontario, July 21, 2021 (LifeSiteNews) – The Canadian federal government is getting rid of its controversial three-day mandatory quarantine hotel stay for all air travelers as part of a border reopening program.
Starting August 9, the much-contested three-night “government authorized hotel stay requirement will be eliminated for all travellers,” reads a statement from the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) dated July 19.
“Fully vaccinated travellers who meet the requirements will be exempt from quarantine; however, all travellers must still provide a quarantine plan and be prepared to quarantine in case it is determined at the border that they do not meet the necessary requirements,” the PHAC statement advised.
Also effective August 9, U.S. citizens who have been “fully vaccinated” at least 14 days before their trip with a COVID-19 jab approved by Health Canada will be allowed to visit.
Travelers are allowed to bring their kids with them who have not had the COVID-19 jabs. That means U.S. citizens who have chosen not to get the COVID-19 jab will be barred from visiting the country for leisure purposes for the moment.
Fully jabbed travelers starting August 9 will also be allowed to skip a mandatory COVID-19 pre- and post-arrival PCR test unless they are randomly selected for one. Unvaccinated travelers still must take mandatory COVID-19 tests and quarantine at home for two weeks upon arrival.
In late January, the government announced that all air travelers would have to submit to a mandatory hotel quarantine for at least three nights while waiting for test results from a mandatory COVID-19 test given upon arrival.
Canadian Minister of Health Patty Hajdu said the new changes announced are being made due to “rising vaccination rates and fewer cases in Canada.”
“We can begin to safely ease border measures. A gradual approach to reopening will allow our health authorities to monitor the COVID-19 situation here and abroad. Canadians have worked hard and sacrificed for each other, and because of that work, we can take these next steps safely,” said Hajdu.
Starting September 7, Canada will also allow only “fully vaccinated” tourists from other countries to visit. On August 9, Canada will also allow five additional airports to accept international flights, up from the current four.
Vancouver International airport has installed lines for those with and without the COVID-19 jabs, which one must queue through upon entering Canada.
According to the airport's website, passengers are now split into “vaccinated and non/partially-vaccinated queues before reaching Customs.”
The federal government says that to be considered “fully vaccinated” a traveler must have received the full two doses of a government-approved COVID-19 jab “at least 14 days prior to entering Canada.”
All travelers entering Canada will be subject to a new border screening program that uses biometrics.
The government will use its “new border testing surveillance program at airports and land border crossings.”
The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) had earlier announced that there was an “urgent” need to create an “Office of Biometrics and Identity Management” that could be used to verify the vaccine status of all Canadian and foreign travelers who enter the country.
PHAC’s statement says travelers wanting to use their vaccination status to travel to Canada for leisure reasons must use the ArriveCAN app or web portal upon arrival in Canada. Travelers must use the app to upload their COVID-19 information and must have a paper or digital copy proving their COVID-19 jab status.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in mid-July that “fully vaccinated” U.S. citizens would be allowed to visit Canada in August.
Since July 5, Canadian air travelers coming home who have had two doses of a COVID-19 shot do not have to quarantine for 14 days.
Many resisted the mandatory hotel stays, which led to lawsuits against the federal government.
The Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF) was part of a lawsuit against the federal government and represented 10 clients.
One of its clients included Pastor Nicole Mathis. The JCCF said she “was forced against her will” into a “federal quarantine facility and detained for three nights” because her negative COVID-19 test was not accepted by Canadian Public Health officials.
However, in June, Canada’s federal court ruled that quarantine hotels imposed by the government of Trudeau since January — and for which travelers must pay — are constitutional. The court, however, also ruled that a pastor’s rights were violated when she was confined to a quarantine hotel against her will.
Health Canada has authorized four COVID-19 injections for adults, all with connections to abortion. They also have been associated with severe side effects such as blood clots, rashes, miscarriages, and even heart attacks in young healthy men.
A Bloomberg report states that around half of the U.S. population are considered to be fully jabbed with a COVID-19 injection.
Trudeau said in June that this autumn his government will be rolling out a type of “national certification of vaccination status” that travelers can use to prove they’ve had the “full” two doses of the COVID-19 jab.
When it comes to the provincial level, Trudeau has said it is up to the provinces to decide whether or not to have a local type of vaccine passport.
Just recently, Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he will not force residents of his province to be inoculated against COVID-19.
Alberta Premier Jason Kenney also recently said his government will neither introduce a provincial “vaccine passport” nor accept one if imposed at the federal level.
However, two other Canadian provinces (Manitoba and Quebec) have gone ahead with forms of proof of vaccination for non-essential services, those being.
Allison Kindle Pejovic, a lawyer for Canada’s Justice Centre for Constitutional Freedoms (JCCF), told LifeSiteNews in June that the vaccine passport created by the province of Manitoba creates a society that is unequal.
“This vaccine passport system creates a two-tiered society whereby those who have chosen to be vaccinated are treated differently and discriminatorily compared to those who have not chosen to get the vaccine,” she said.