by Jim Byers
Last updated: 2:36 PM ET, Wed December 30, 2020
The government of Canada will begin requiring visitors arriving by air to provide a negative COVID-19 test.
Multiple news sites, including Canadian Press, say that the Liberal government in Ottawa made the move official on Wednesday morning.
Senior government officials in the Justin Trudeau government said all passengers on flights coming into Canada will have to present a negative PCR test taken within three days of their arrival.
The move could come into effect in a few days, Global News said.
Similar requirements have been brought in by countries around the world.
Public Safety Minister Bill Blair said the presence of Canada Border Service Agency agents will also be increased at border crossings and airports to ensure Canadians understand the newly tightened rules, Global reported.
"We strongly advise against travel unless absolutely necessary," Blair said at a news conference in Ottawa on Wednesday. "If you must travel, understand that upon your return, you must follow guidelines and quarantine for 14 days. It's not just the right thing to do - it's the law. And if you don't, it can result in serious consequences."
Canadian aviation expert Robert Kokonis panned Ottawa's plan.
"My expectation, shared with many people in the industry in Canada, is that testing on arrival is good," he said in an email. "At the same time, I believe, as do others, that a requirement for advance Covid testing should be implemented only in conjunction with a reduced quarantine period."
"The requirement now for travelers entering Canada (who are largely Canadian citizens and residents) to get an advance negative Covid test, and still quarantine for 14 days upon arrival will deter even more passengers from travelling," Kokonis said. "Already brutally weak load factors on international routes could be reduced to table scraps, forcing our airlines to make additional route and capacity reductions. This will translate directly into addition lost airline jobs. Rippling those job losses across the broader aviation and tourism food chain, and we could be setting up our industry for catastrophic losses"
The National Airlines Council of Canada also questioned the announcement.
"We strongly believe it must also be utilized in conjunction with measures to reduce quarantine levels, as is being done in countries all around the world," said NACC chief Mike McNaney.
"The implementation of the new testing requirement must be used as a springboard to a more coordinated approach to mitigate risk, and implement science-based policy with respect to quarantine measures," he said. "While industry will do all it can to implement the new requirements, and ensure passengers are aware of their obligations, given the lack of detail and prior consultation this is going to be a very challenging exercise, the complexity of which the government must not underestimate."
Ontario Premier Doug Ford has recently jousted with the federal government on the issue of rapid testing for arriving passengers. Ford last week said Ontario would go ahead with rapid testing at Toronto Pearson, with or without the federal government's help.
The National Post on Wednesday reported that the "Ontario and federal governments are preparing to unveil a joint COVID-19 rapid testing program at the province's biggest airport as early as next week, as both sides seek to deflect blame for a growing number of travel-related cases entering Canada."
A spokesperson for Ontario Premier Doug Ford said a new pilot program to test international travellers entering Canada through YYZ would be unveiled "in the early new year."
The Post said the plan could test around 315,000 travellers over a three-month period.
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