Fully vaccinated individuals who are allowed to travel to Canada may be exempt from the hotel quarantine requirement, starting as early as July.
Previously, everyone coming into Canada was required to stay at a government-approved hotel for three days.
The prime minister has previously announced that Canada is considering a phased approach towards adjusting the border measures with the situation improving in the country. He also mentioned that the health and safety of Canadians will remain the number one priority.
During a press conference on May 9, Minister of Health Patty Hajdu delivered the news.
"What is currently being considered as the first step in this approach is to allow fully vaccinated individuals currently permitted to enter Canada to do so without the requirement to stay in government authorized accommodations," she said, "Travellers will have to be fully vaccinated 14 days or more prior to their arrival."
This measure will only apply to those who are already exempt from the current travel restrictions. This includes Canadians, permanent residents, their family members, some temporary foreign workers and international students who are attending a designated learning institution with a COVID-19 readiness plan.
These travellers, however, will still need to get a negative COVID-19 test before travelling to Canada. In addition, they will still be required to take a COVID-19 test upon arrival.
They must also have a quarantine plan as they wait for their test result. If they receive a negative result, they can be released from quarantine.
When will these measures take effect?
The health minister did not set a date for when these measures will go into effect, but suggested that it could be as early as the beginning of July.
The changes will be confirmed if COVID-19 cases across the country continues to drop, and if the vaccination efforts continue to go well.
Residents are encouraged to get vaccinated and continue to follow public health measures.
Currently, around 70 per cent of the Canadian population has received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
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