Most Canadians say proof of vaccination should be required at border: poll

A new poll suggests a majority of Canadians say proof of vaccination should be required of all essential and non-essential travellers.

Fifty-eight per cent of respondents to an online survey by Leger and the Association for Canadian Studies say travellers should be required to show a document that proves they are immunized against the novel coronavirus.

The poll suggests 48 per cent of Canadians support the total reopening of the Canada-U. S. border at the end of August, including to tourists, while 52 per cent say they oppose the reopening.

Leger executive vice-president Christian Bourque says Canadians are divided on the issues of requiring travellers to show proof of vaccination and reopening the borders.

“(They are) divided in a way that, I think, gives some flexibility to Ottawa when making decisions, because there is no hard consensus on either side,” he said.

He says the survey shows that Canadians are also split almost in half on whether they are comfortable in engaging in social activities.

The online poll of more than 1,500 adult Canadians was carried out July 16 to 18 and it cannot be assigned a margin of error because internet-based surveys are not considered random samples.

The federal government updated Canadian border measures on Monday announcing that fully vaccinated citizens and permanent residents from the U.S. will be allowed to enter the country as of Aug. 9.

While Canada continues to see a low number of new COVID-19 infections, many U.S. states are seeing a surge in cases sparked by the more transmissible Delta variant and lower vaccination rates.

Canada has now fully vaccinated a larger portion of its population than the U.S.

If COVID-19 case counts remain low and vaccination rates keep trending in the right direction then fully vaccinated international travellers from the rest of the world will be able to come to Canada as of Sept. 7.

Unvaccinated individuals will not be allowed to enter Canada through non-essential trips. If someone or a group is considered essential, they must quarantine for 14 days.

Canada’s borders have been closed to non-essential travel since March 2020.