Ottawa announces suspension of vaccine mandates for domestic travel, federal employees

The federal government has announced a suspension of vaccine mandates forfederal employees and for passengers wishing to board a plane or train in Canada.

Federal employees and transportation workers in federally regulated sectors will no longer have to be fully vaccinated as a condition of their work. Those on unpaid administrativeleave because of their vaccination status will be invited to return to work.

Starting June 20, vaccines will no longer be required for travellers in Canada. Canadian citizens entering the country from abroad will still be required to meet entry requirements and masks will remain mandatoryfor thoseboarding planes or trains in Canada. Visitors to Canada will have to be fully vaccinated to enter the country, or meet the requirements of an exemption.

WATCH|Ottawa deliberately took its time to lift vaccine mandates for domestic travel, says Intergovernmental Affairs Minister

Ottawa deliberately took its time to lift vaccine mandates for domestic travel, says Intergovernmental Affairs Minister

2 years ago

Duration 10:00

"We deliberately decided to be cautious. We deliberately decided to take our time. We're not going to apologize for that." Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc on why Ottawa waited until now to suspend vaccine mandates for domestic travel.

Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs Dominic LeBlanc told reporters that while some mandates are being suspended, the federal government will bring them backif the COVID-19 situation changes for the worse.

"Today's announcement is possible because Canadians have stepped up to protect each other," LeBlanc said. "We are now able to adjust our policy because we have followed consistently the best advice from public health authorities."

LeBlanc said that the federal government does not regret its cautious approachto lifting mandates, addingthat Ottawa's policies saved lives.

Vaccine mandates for cruise ship passengers and crewswill remain in place, as will adherence to strict public health measures.

The vaccine mandatesfor travel have been in effect since Oct. 30, 2021. As the mandates were phased in, travellers had a one-month grace period during which they could instead provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test.

Unvaccinated Canadians have always been allowed to return to Canada. But the federal government's websitesays unvaccinated Canadians haveto meet all "pre-entry, arrival, Day-8 testing, ArriveCANand quarantine requirements"
orface a fine up to $5,000 or criminal prosecution.

Airport congestion

The government has been under pressure fromopposition partiesandindustry organizationsto relax some public health measures in response to delays and long lineups at airports.

Transport MinisterOmar Alghabrasaid the changes to vaccine mandates are not a response to congestion at Canada's airports but are motivated by health advice and the effectmandates and vaccinationpolicies have had on previousCOVID-19 waves.

"International airports are facing similar challenges," he said. "Heathrow's airport, Amsterdam's airport, Dublin's airports, U.S. airports this is a phenomenon that we are seeing because of a surge in demand and the labour is trying to catch up to that surge.

"We have a responsibility to act. We are working with airlines, we are working with airports and we are doing everything we can to ease those bottlenecks."

Suspending random testing

Last week, the federal government announced that it was suspending random COVID-19 testing at airports.

At that time,Alghabra said Ottawawas taking other measures to address airport congestion, such as hiring more security screening personnel and adding more customs kiosks at Toronto's Pearson International Airport.

Government officials including Alghabra, Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos and Chief Public Health Officer Theresa Tam havepointed tomandates as an effective way of getting more Canadians vaccinated.

But expertshave questioned the effectivenessof vaccine mandates for travel since the emergence of the more infectious Omicron variant. Tam has said that effective protection against the variant requires a thirdboosterdose.

WATCH:'Right time' to end vaccine travel mandates, says specialist

'Right time' to end vaccine travel mandates, says specialist

2 years ago

Duration 2:04

It's reasonable for Ottawa to drop the COVID-19 vaccine mandates for travel, says infectious diseases specialist, Dr. Isaac Bogoch, noting two doses doesn't prevent Omicron transmission.

So far, the government's definition of "fully vaccinated" remains two doses of an approved COVID-19 vaccineor one dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine.

Infectious diseases specialistDr. Isaac Bogoch said that while two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine protects against severe illness or death, it's time to end the travelmandates.

"The purpose was to really prevent transmission of COVID-19 in transportation," he said."Two doses doesn't really provide much in the way of protection against getting the infection and onward transmission of the infection for those who are infected."

Unions welcome policy change

Representatives ofthe Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) and the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC) whichtogether represent more than 250,000 federal public servants welcomed the move but said they were frustrated by havingto learn of the change through the media.

"Unfortunately, the federal government did not consult with PSAC before making its decision to lift its vaccination policy. Unions should always be consulted on policies that have a major impact on the terms and conditions of employment of our members to protect their health and safety and their rights in the workplace," PSAC said in a media statement.

PIPSC issued a statement saying it welcomed the announcement but like PSAC it's concerned about union members who remain on leave without pay and isawaiting details on how they'llbe phased back into the workplace.