Border announcement expected next week
MONTREAL — Canadians and Quebecers who feel in the dark as to when they can begin hosting their international friends can take comfort in knowing a border announcement is on the way.
“We have to continue with a gradual and progressive approach, which is why tonight I will sit down for our 30-something-ish meeting of premiers during this pandemic to talk about reopening plans,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said at a news conference at the Palais des congrès announcing investments in the aerospace sector in Quebec on Thursday, alongside Premier François Legault. “We should have an announcement to make within the next week.”
The Canadian border has been closed to most nonresidents since the early days of the pandemic. Last week, Health Canada announced fully vaccinated travellers who are eligible to enter the country are no longer required to quarantine or complete a Day 8 test — the first phase of its gradual reopening plan.
Before that, the government said at least 75 per cent of the Canadian population would need to be fully vaccinated before it begins opening the border to non-residents. Trudeau would not repeat that number when asked Thursday, saying it will depend on expert recommendations.
“Even completely vaccinated people can carry and transmit the virus, and so it takes a certain level of protection inside the country before we can be really comfortable with a complete opening even to fully vaccinated people,” he said. “Which is why we’re doing it gradually.”
Quebec’s position on the matter is simple, and not dependent on the vaccination rate of the population, Premier François Legault said: Only those with proof of full vaccination should be permitted to enter once the border reopens.
“Whether it’s Canadians going abroad who come back or foreigners who come to Quebec, it’s important to put in place a vaccine passport, and we’re ready to collaborate with the federal government,” he said. “It’s not 75 per cent (vaccination rate), it’s not 80 per cent, it’s not 90 per cent — it’s 100 per cent of people who come here should have proof that they received both doses.”
Trudeau said the federal government is analyzing data gathered since changes were made to quarantine rules last week, as it continues discussions on reopening the border. Current data shows very few people who were fully vaccinated tested positive upon arrival in Canada, but some did.
“There are a handful who tested positive for COVID even if they were vaccinated,” Trudeau said. “It’s not zero — it’s very, very few, but we have to remain vigilant, because until we attain a level of immunity in our communities that will keep us safe, we have to be very careful.”
Quebec is on board with the gradual approach, hoping to first open the border with the United States “to see how it goes, and then to open to all countries in the world, but always under the condition that there is a vaccine passport, that we have proof,” Legault said, “that we agreed with other countries that people who come here have received their two doses.”
Later on Thursday, according to a readout of Trudeau’s call with premiers, the prime minister said Canada may permit fully vaccinated travellers into the country by early September if the current trend in vaccination rate and public health conditions continue.