The federal government is expected to announce new travel restrictions today in a bid to limit the spread of the omicron coronavirus variant.
According to multiple news outlets quoting unnamed government sources, the government is expected to advise Canadians against non-essential travel to foreign countries. A similar recommendation was in place through most of the pandemic, but was lifted in October as the vaccination rate reached a high level.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and provincial premiers held a 90-minute meeting yesterday evening to discuss possible new travel rules, both inbound and outbound.
The proposed measures include a potential ban on all non-essential foreign travellers into Canada, including from the United States, and stricter quarantine and testing measures for travellers who are allowed into Canada, including returning Canadians and permanent residents.
The news comes at the worst possible time for the travel industry, as bookings for winter travel had taken off in the wake of eased restrictions and advice over the past few months. Many of those bookings are now being cancelled or postponed. As well, government support programs ended in October, leaving many travel advisors and agencies in danger of collapse.
The emergence of the omicron variant in late November has prompted renewed scrutiny of travel restrictions by the federal government. Chief Public Health Office Dr. Theresa Tam says community spread of Omicron has already started and that cases "could rapidly escalate in the days to come."
On Friday, Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said Canadians who travel abroad should be prepared for "hassles and delays" on their return. "Canadians who are thinking of travelling abroad need to be warned that the situation abroad is both risky and unstable," said Duclos.
"We are in the midst of a global wave of a variant that just turns out to be extremely, extremely, extremely contagious," Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said on CBC's Power & Politics show yesterday.
"We have a chance to keep this under control. But we can only do that if all of us really act, and the federal government is committed to doing its part."
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