Canada urged to scrap testing requirements for travel days before U.S. border reopens

The federal government is facing renewed pressure from a coalition of business and travel groups to drop COVID-19 testing requirements for fully vaccinated travelers.

The calls from the Canadian Travel & Tourism Roundtable come just days before the U.S. is set to reopen its land border to fully vaccinated travellers. Starting Monday, Nov. 8, at midnight, Canadians who have received a full course of a COVID-19 vaccine — Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, or J&J — will once again be allowed to drive south for leisure.

While Canada has also eased many of its travel restrictions, the requirement to show proof of a negative PCR test is not one of them.

Ahead of the US reopening its land border on Monday to fully vaxxed travelers, the Canadian Chamber of Commerce is renewing a push to get the federal government to drop pre departure PCR testing requirements for those coming to or returning to Canada. #cdnpoli

— Cormac Mac Sweeney (@cmaconthehill) November 4, 2021

Perrin Beatty with the Canadian Chamber of Commerce sees the testing requirement for fully vaccinated travellers as a doubling up of precautions.

“If somebody coming into Canada can demonstrate that they’ve been doubly vaccinated, then they meet the criteria for being low-risk in Canada,” he said.

Beatty adds this is also causing a financial strain for Canadian businesses and families.

“Travel and tourism industry is bracing for cancellations, and Canadian families are looking to either cancel or delay long-awaited winter trips and family visits once again,” he said.

David Schwartz and his family have been considering visiting relatives in Texas. But he says the price tag associated with the PCR tests is a major disincentive.

“But, having to budget an additional $800 to $1,000 for all of us to get a PCR test, that’s a significant cost and certainly is giving us pause for thought.”

The cost of getting a PCR test in the U.S. for travel varies. The cost at at least one lab in Washington state is about $180 USD — which is about $223 CAD. Appointments are generally needed to get such a test for travel, but again, the process may vary.

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Related articles: 

• Planning to fly into the U.S.? Here’s what you need to know come November

• ‘It’s a balancing act’: Canada’s travel industry responds to vaccine passport, PCR test rules

• Need for negative PCR test to enter Canada still under review despite U.S. dropping requirement

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The Trudeau government has been arguing that the rule should stay in place for the time being, given fully vaccinated people can still transmit the disease. That continues to pose a risk, especially for the millions of children who still can’t get vaccinated on this side of the border.

However, the government has left the door open to changing those rules in the future, though no timeline has been provided.

Last month, Deputy Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Howard Njoo said there was still evidence some people coming into this country are testing positive for COVID-19 — even though they had received a full course of a vaccine against the virus.

“As always, we continue to look at the scientific evidence and results of our current testing regime at the border, which does include the requirement for a negative PCR test within 72 hours prior to coming to Canada. What I think is interesting is that, based on the data we’ve been able to analyze to date, there’s still a certain percentage — about 0.2 per cent I think last time I looked at the data — of fully vaccinated travellers coming to Canada that have tested positive for COVID-19,” Njoo explained.

“Then the question is, is that good or bad? It’s less than one per cent, but if you look at the volumes of people increasing coming to Canada, as a percentage, the actual true number of people coming would obviously, potentially, be increasing as well. So I think that right now, it’s certainly another layer of protection, it’s something that is in place at the moment, and we continue to look to the evidence,” he continued.

While travel restrictions are being relaxed, health officials continue to urge people to be vigilant, as COVID-19 continues to spread.