Canada's return to mandatory random testing for air arrivals has taken effect. As of 18JUL, any pax arriving at any of the country's four major international airports (Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto, and Montreal,) who qualify as fully vaccinated may be selected for offsite random testing.
The return comes as Canada and many other parts of the world experience a new wave of the COVID-19 virus - and as the aviation industry in Canada and globally struggles with delays and cancellations, staffing and baggage crises.
A statement issued by the Tourism Industry Association of Canada (TIAC) calls on the Government of Canada to lift all remaining COVID-19 restrictions on travel, including mandatory random testing of travellers.
"We must be diligent in ensuring Canada's global competitiveness in tourism moving forward by:
- Ceasing the practice of mandatory random testing for COVID-19 and replacing this practice with wastewater testing for tracking future variants;
- Permanently lifting the vaccine requirement for travel for both domestic and international travellers; and
- Eliminating the ArriveCan application or changing the application to reflect the traveller and industry's needs, and not be a barrier to travellers choosing Canada as a destination," TIAC's statement reads.
It adds that the industry organization, "continues working to advocate for eliminating all barriers to recovery, including testing and vaccination requirements, for financial support to the industry through these times of financial uncertainty, and to address the issue of labour shortages across the country."
