Saskatchewan airports expect increase in travel as testing requirement drops

The federal government lifted the requirement of a pre–entry negative COVID-19 test on Friday for travellers who are vaccinated and coming to Canada. 

Vaccinated travellers coming to Canada have one less hurdle to jump.

The federal government lifted the requirement of a pre–entry negative COVID-19 test on Friday for travellers to Canada who are vaccinated.

Canada Border Service Agency says there could still be random PCR testing at airports for all travellers, but passengers are not required to isolate while waiting for results.

Saskatoon and Regina airports both say this a huge step in the journey to recovery for the travel industry.

Regina Airport Authority customer experience manager Justin Reves said the testing requirements limited opportunities for people to travel here.

“You are taking the risk that if for some reason you did test positive for COVID, whether because you actively had COVID or perhaps had it before and hadn’t caught it with a test prior, you’d be stuck in another country for an additional 10 days,” Reves said.

Reves said the move will also help individuals and families cut down on travel costs.

“When you think of a family of five and you have to get five molecular tests, or .. rapid antigen tests. Those can be a lot of additional costs,” Reves said.