Tourism, business groups call on Canada to lift COVID-19 testing for fully vaccinated travellers

federal government to remove the pre-departure COVID-19 testing requirement for fully vaccinated international travellers, arguing that the measure is no longer necessary at this point in the pandemic.Representatives from several organizations held a press conference in Toronto Thursday morning, saying that removing the restriction is necessary to allow the tourism and business sectors to fully recover.“Businesses are becoming more confident that we are past the need to rely on restrictive measures like lockdowns to manage the virus,” said Lindsay Broadhead, the senior vice-president of communications and public affairs at the Toronto Region Board of Trade.

Feds scrapping pre-arrival COVID PCR test requirement for fully vaccinated travellers “To realize the full opportunity, we must, where it is safe to do so, remove restrictions that are no longer needed.

That’s why today, I join my friends from the Global Business Travel Association, American Express Global Business Travel, and Destination Toronto, to call on the federal government to help revise its travel policies so that Toronto’s tourism sector can get back on its feet.”The groups want to see the federal government remove the pre-departure testing requirement for fully vaccinated travellers no later than April 1, which is when the regulations are set to be updated.Currently, international travellers are required to provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test before their arrival to Canada.

It can be a molecular test completed within 72 hours of a flight’s departure time or the traveller’s arrival to Canada by land or sea.Travellers were also recently given the option of providing proof of a negative antigen test completed no more than one day before arrival to.