Canadians and permanent residents who are fully vaccinated will be able to travel without any quarantine, as of July 5. Travellers will still have to undergo tests when they arrive in Canada and before their departure.
TravelPulse Canada reached out to a few travel advisors for their reaction to the news.
Kim Machan, Essence of Romance Travel and an agent with The Travel Agent Next Door, says her clients were excited to hear of the changes on her social media.
"They (members of her wedding Facebook page) were all very excited to hear about the changes," said Mahcan. "Some were waiting for this new phase before deciding to book their weddings and honeymoons. My personal bookings have already increased a lot the last month though and I do now anticipate more bookings, especially for individual travel."
Another agent contacted by TravelPulse Canada said she had anticipated the changes and was advising clients already. She said she'd be heading off to Italy in mid-July.
But one agent we spoke with said she had already seen such a strong demand for travel before the announcement was made, that she booked 300 trips last week alone.
"I'm pleased with (today's) announcement but my 300 bookings made in the last 7 to 10 days had nothing to do with it," said Elayne Pink, co-owner of Absolute Travel. "It's just an added bonus and hopefully more clarity will come in the coming days."
Initially, the benchmark for safely opening the borders was pegged at 75% of the population having the first dose, and 20% the second. Those benchmarks have moved, as Safety Minister Bill Blair said in Monday's conference that Canada could begin welcoming fully vaccinated visitors when the country reaches the 75% fully vaccinated mark.
"I think that will mean an easing of restrictions on fully vaccinated travelers and the lifting of the current prohibition on non-essential travel," Blair said.
Canada is far behind in its reopening plans, with countries such as France, releasing detailed strategies to the public and putting safe restrictions in place that allow a slow, and safe return to normal. American cities like Las Vegas are fully reopened and entertainment parks like Disney have dropped their masked mandate for vaccinated visitors.
Still, perhaps it's the Canadian way, Monday's announcement brough some optimism.
"This is such a positive step forward," Machan said. "Many of us have followed the measures in place, taken the advice of the doctors and government and chosen to trust these vaccines. So it is nice to see things moving forward … especially for the men and women who have had to hold off on one of the most important celebrations of their life; their weddings!"
"People are definitely feeling more optimistic at this point and welcome the move forward," she said.
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