Confusion abounds as Ottawa introduces new pandemic travel measures with few details
CBC
A hastily assembled plan to test all non-American international travellers to Canada for COVID-19 has prompted confusion among passengers and airport operators alike — because the federal government has released few details about how the new rules will be implemented.
With the omicron variant in circulation, the federal government announced Tuesday it would make all incoming passengers from non-U.S. foreign destinations get another COVID-19 test when they arrive in Canada. This new test is in addition to the pre-departure molecular test that all travellers must undergo before leaving for Canada.
Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said Wednesday the new arrival testing program will take effect immediately. "That is starting today," the minister told reporters. But there are no signs today that the program is actually up and running.
"One concern is just when this goes into effect ... something even Air Canada and WestJet appear not to know," Cameron Turner, a traveller from Victoria, B.C., asked CBC News. "Another concern is just where travellers are expected to self isolate while waiting for their test results."
The federal government's COVID-19 travel website still relays information about the old arrival testing requirements. Under that outgoing program, fully vaccinated travellers were exempt from arrival testing but some were randomly selected for take-home tests.
Those travellers self-administered the test while on a video link with a nurse from a private company, such as Dynacare, LifeLabs or Switch Health, to make sure it was done right. The specimen was then sent via courier to a laboratory.
That randomized program is being replaced with mandatory arrival testing for all passengers, regardless of vaccination status. Federal health officials have not said who will administer the arrival tests or whether the tests will be administered on-site or through take-home kits.
Duclos has said only that some passengers may have to wait for up to three days in self-isolation before they get their results. Where those passengers will wait is still unclear.
"Once they enter through a Canadian airport, they need to be tested on arrival, either directly at the airport or, if that is not possible, they take a home test and do that home test at home. While they wait for the result of that test to be known, they isolate themselves. And when they get a negative test, they can exit out of their isolation period," Duclos told reporters Wednesday.
CBC News has asked Health Canada to clarify when the arrival testing program will start and what form it will take when it's operational.
Asked Thursday if airports are ready to hand out tests or arrange for on-site testing, the president of the Canadian Airports Council, the organization that represents many of the country's airports, said he's still not sure how the program will work.
"Unfortunately, we have no new information on how or when the new testing requirements will be implemented," Daniel-Robert Gooch told CBC News.
Gooch said it's simply not feasible to test all incoming passengers in the arrival halls of the country's largest airports.
"The use of off-site tests, such as take-home tests, will be essential to making it work. Our members have told us it would not be possible to process 100 per cent of all non-U.S. international travellers on-site," he said.
A claim by New Brunswick Premier Susan Holt that petroleum refiners will be paying the $1 million per week cost of a gasoline price cut that her government orchestrated last weekend does not appear to be unfolding that way.
Sonia Bélanger, junior health minister and the minister responsible for senior and social services, is expected to be sworn in as early as Friday as Quebec's new health minister, according to sources at Radio-Canada.
A growing number of Manitoba's MRI machines now use artificial intelligence, with a plan to have more than half using the technology by spring.
A mobile unit the Saskatchewan government bought in 2002 for providing mammograms to Saskatchewan women will soon retire.
The Prince Edward Island government is rolling out the province’s first-ever policing standards, which officials say will make police services more consistent, transparent and better supported.
Residents in Niagara Falls, Ont., continue to wait for news on the future of Marineland’s property and dozens of animals, including up to 30 belugas and four dolphins — nearly two months after the federal government turned down the theme park's request to export the mammals.
Canadian travellers hoping for a new year without having to worry about a labour dispute may be out of luck, as 2026 will see most major airlines from this country facing off with unions across the bargaining table.
Food prices are soaring. Food prices keep climbing. Food prices are defying cooling inflation.
WARNING: This story contains distressing details.
Ontario legislation that mandated air conditioning in all resident rooms in long-term care (LTC) homes has saved dozens of lives, according to a new study.
Gusty winds, rapid fall in temperature prompt special weather statement for Waterloo region and area
The mid-week warmup in Waterloo region, Guelph and area will abruptly come to an end on Friday, Environment and Climate Change Canada warns.
Water in two more schools in the N.W.T. show lead levels above Health Canada's guidelines for drinking water, according to the territorial government.
Ontario's ethics watchdog says it will investigate whether the province's labour minister contravened any laws in his handling of a controversial training fund.