The Canadian Travel and Tourism Roundtable says Canada's COVID-19 restrictions are out of step with other countries.
A group of Canadian doctors and tourism industry representatives are urging the federal government to end COVID-19 testing requirements.
The Canadian Travel and Tourism Roundtable says the country's current COVID-19 travel restrictions are "obsolete" and out of step with other countries including Switzerland, Denmark and the United Kingdom, all of which have removed testing requirements for fully immunized travelers.
The group is urging the federal government to remove measures such as the pre-departure and on-arrival PCR tests for fully vaccinated travelers.
"COVID-19 testing at the border does not make any sense; travel is no more risky than other activities and there is no scientific reason to single it out," said Dr. Zain Chagla, Infectious Diseases Physician and Associate Professor at McMaster University. "When first put in place, Canada's travel rules were designed to keep COVID-19 out of the country. Now that the virus is here and community spread is responsible for approximately 99 per cent of all infections, the rules governing travel are obsolete."
Dominik Mertz, Division Director of Infectious Diseases at McMaster University, agrees, saying PCR tests often deliver positive results for weeks after a COVID-19 diagnosis, presenting further challenges to the travel industry.
Meanwhile, the Public Health Agency of Canada notes the positivity rate for fully vaccinated tourists coming into Canada averaged about 7.87 percent from January 2nd - 22nd.
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