There was a collective sigh of relief across the Canadian travel industry yesterday as the federal government confirmed that on October 1 it will lift remaining COVID-19 restrictions, including requirements for wearing masks on aircraft, testing and quarantine, and the compulsory use of ArriveCan.
"Air Canada welcomes the removal of these restrictions, acknowledging that air travel is safe and that the measures were not justified by science. We believe it will greatly facilitate travel, help to continue stabilizing the country's air transport sector and support Canada's economy," said Craig Landry, EVP and Chief Operating Officer at Air Canada.
In the days before the announcement, WestJet said removing the mask mandate will make its employees jobs easier and safer.
"Unfortunately mask non-compliance and enforcement on our aircraft continues to be a source of disruption for our people and guests and this transition is critical to align with other major nations. The mandatory mask policy has become increasingly unenforceable," said Andy Gibbons, WestJet's VP External Affairs.
"For context, in 2022 alone, we have had more than 1,100 reported incidents of mask non-compliance, an increase from 2021. These situations have caused one air turnback, nine gate turnbacks and 74 flights to re-open the cabin door after boarding to offload unruly guests, Gibbons added.
The changes come as a big relief for airports too.
"After more than two years operating under a very complex series of changing regulations, today's announcement is very welcome news for the travelling public, our community, and workers across the aviation sector," said Tamara Vrooman, President & CEO at Vancouver Airport Authority.
"The removal of COVID-19 travel measures will improve passengers' overall travel experience, assist our frontline employees, and allow more people to reconnect with loved ones and tourism experiences across the province and country."
Cruise lines are also happy that they won't have to enforce different rules for guests boarding in Canada.
"We applaud these decisions by Transport Canada to make visiting the country easier and more convenient for all guests sailing our popular Alaska and Canada/New England itineraries, and look forward to welcoming everyone on our incredible Alaska and Canadian cruises," said John Padgett, president of Princess Cruises.
"Alaska and Canadian cruises are among the most desired vacation options in the world, and we look forward to welcoming everyone who's waited the past three years for this market to fully open."
The Canadian Tourism Roundtable, a cross-Canadian coalition of leaders in the tourism and travel sector - including representatives from airports, airlines, hotels, and chambers of commerce across the country - worked hard to push for a lifting of restrictions.
"The Roundtable has long advocated for the removal of these measures as they were not rooted in science and were inconsistent with rules governing all other community activities," the group said in a statement.
"The Roundtable continues to encourage the federal government to follow the science and avoid using these tactics in the future."
Air Canada's Landry says more changes are needed to improve Canada's air transport system.
"While today's announcement is a positive step, we urge the government not to lose momentum. Lessons learned during the pandemic should now be applied to streamlining the air transport system in Canada and to enact further reforms," Landry said.
"This includes improving processes, such as security and customs at airports, developing new trusted traveller programs, deploying new technologies and, more fundamentally, re-examining the user-pay model that finances air transportation in Canada, whose weaknesses and interdependencies were exposed by COVID."
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