Travel restrictions in Canada are being relaxed. Here's everything you need to know about it.

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Kirti Pathak
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Travel restrictions in Canada

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The federal government has finally begun to relax travel restrictions that have harmed the majority of Canadians for more than a year.

Ottawa has begun the first phase of a multi-part plan to ease travel restrictions. The administration, however, stresses that the process would be gradual and would be based on scientific facts rather than people's requests to reopen the borders. Here's what's coming up in the near future, as well as what to expect as more Canadians become vaccinated.

Travelers who have been vaccinated can skip the first round of quarantine.

Since the outbreak, Canada has closed its borders to most non-essential traffic and imposed a 14-day quarantine on those who are allowed to enter. In late February, the government increased the ante by requiring travelers to take a COVID-19 test upon arrival and to spend part of their quarantine at a specified hotel until test results are received.

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Ottawa, on the other hand, said on Wednesday that all fully vaccinated tourists now permitted to enter Canada would soon be able to bypass the 14-day quarantine period, which includes the mandatory hotel stay. Instead, they'll have to produce documentation of a negative COVID-19 test before leaving, take another test once they arrive, and self-isolate until the second test comes back negative.

The administration has not established a deadline for the regulation change, although it "hopes" to have it in place by early July. "These modifications will only be made if the case count continues to decline and the vaccination campaign continues to go well," said Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc at a news conference on Wednesday in French.

Many vaccinated travelers will be relieved to learn of the planned rule change, but those planning to travel to Canada before it takes effect will be disappointed. "It feels like a punishment and a slap in the face," Fay Wallenberg, who grew up in Regina and now lives in Tuscany, Italy, said. Wallenberg has gotten both doses of the AstraZeneca vaccination and will fly home on June 25 to see her parents.

She won't be able to adjust her trip plans, so she'll arrive knowing that vaccinated travelers will be able to skip the quarantine hotel and arrive a week later. Patty Hajdu, the Minister of Health, said on Wednesday that numerous government ministries are still preparing arrangements for the regulation change in order to be "operationally ready" in July.

Is my vaccine up to snuff? How about my children?

Only passengers who have received a vaccine approved by Health CanadaPfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca, and Johnson & Johnson will be exempt from the 14-day quarantine at this time.

Ottawa also said it's working on a vaccine passport for travelers, and that if it's not ready by the time the laws change, Canadian border officials will use their documentation to assess a traveler's status. When traveling with fully vaccinated parents, Hajdu couldn't clarify if unvaccinated children would be exempt from the hotel requirement. The COVID-19 vaccination has only been licensed by Health Canada for people aged 12 and up.

"We will not separate families traveling together," Hajdu declared on Power & Politics on Wednesday. She did not disclose any other information, stating that things were still being worked out. The administration stated that it does not have a defined schedule for easing additional travel restrictions.

"We're looking at indicators that are less data-oriented and more disease-activity-oriented," Hajdu explained. According to her, case counts, hospitalizations, and vaccination rates will all play a role in determining Ottawa's next steps. According to Canada's Chief Public Health Officer, Dr. Theresa Tam, the government's next vaccination "goalpost" for reducing border restrictions is to have 75 percent of all eligible Canadians fully immunized. Only 7% of Canadians aged 18 and up have taken two doses of the vaccine.

Some US legislators are disappointed by Canada's slow approach to eliminating travel restrictions, as they want to see a plan for restoring the Canada-US land border put into effect right now. There has recently been talked that the United States intends to go it alone and reopen its side of the border to non-essential traffic on June 22nd, when the existing deal expires.

According to US immigration lawyer Len Saunders, almost a dozen US Customs and Border Protection employees have been instructed that the US land border will reopen on that date. "I'll be amazed if the border isn't reopened into the United States in two weeks," said Saunders, whose office is near the Canadian border in Blaine, Wash.

The US administration, on the other hand, has dismissed the rumors. Furthermore, Hajdu stated that she met with US Health Secretary Alex Azar last week and that the two countries agreed that developing shared health guidelines to remove travel restrictions would be advantageous.

In any case, enthusiastic cross-border travelers may soon receive additional information. According to New York Congressman Brian Higgins, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and US President Joe Biden will debate the problem at the current G7 session in the United Kingdom.

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