Vaccine Passports on the Way, Canadian Health Minister Says

Canada is working to provide vaccine certificates or passports for Canadians, the Trudeau government says.

In a weekend interview with CBC Radio, federal Health Minister Patty Hajdu said Ottawa will make sure such certificates are in place so Canadians can travel internationally.

"Canadians are going to want to travel and, just like there have been changes in other kinds of travel requirements over the years as a result of a number of events, Canadians need to be prepared to be able to travel internationally. And we'll make sure that they are," Hajdu said.

"Canadians need to be able to have the right kind of certification for international travel because, as we know, Canadians will want to travel internationally, and they will want to make sure they have the right credentials to do that from a vaccination perspective," she said.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau last week said that vaccine certificates are "naturally to be expected when it comes to this pandemic and the coronavirus."

Many countries have said they'll be providing some kind of vaccination passport or inoculation certificate that will allow governments to know who's been vaccinated against COVID-19. The European Union recently said it will open to vaccinated Americans, and it appears that courtesy also will be extended to Canadians at some stage.

"I would say that our goal is to open the borders as soon as possible … when it is safe to do so, safe for Europeans and safe for visitors from other countries, including from Canada," EU Ambassador to Canada Melita Gabric told CBC's The House.

A recent Ipsos poll found strong support in Canada for the idea of people needing to show a vaccine certificate to enter the country. Almost eight in ten Canadians (78%) agreed with the idea, with 56% saying they strongly support the idea, and 21% saying they "somewhat" support it. That's exactly the same as the global average, Ipsos said.

Trudeau has talked about using vaccine passports for travel but appears to be agains the idea of following the lead of countries such as Israel, which allows access to some public facilities only for those with proof of vaccination.

The Ipsos survey found that 61% of Canadians support the idea that only people who have been vaccinated should be allowed to do things that involve larger groups of people, such as taking a light or attending cultural and sports events. By contrast, 39% of Canadians feel that limiting activities only to those who have been vaccinated is unfair to those who are ineligible, are waiting for a vaccine or choose not to be vaccinated.

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