Trudeau In Favour Of Lifting Vaccine Requirement At border By Sept. 30

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has agreed to let a cabinet order enforcing mandatory COVID-19 vaccination requirements at the Canadian border expire on September 30, two senior government sources confirmed with The Canadian Press.

The news was corroborated by the sources, who spoke to The Canadian Press on the condition they not be named because they were not authorized to speak publicly.

The federal government is still deciding whether to maintain the requirement for passengers to wear face masks on trains and airplanes. Recently, ministers defended the use of masks as we enter cold and flu season and another suspected wave of COVID-19.

Cabinet met Thursday afternoon, but cabinet approval is not required to allow the current public health order to expire.

Trudeau needs to give a final sign-off on it, but it’s expected the feds would drop the vaccine requirement and end random COVID-19 testing at airports.

Federal cabinet ministers confirmed this week they are considering options and say discussions are being had within the government about whether or not to keep the travel measures in place.
Filling out information in the ArriveCan app will no longer be mandated and will be optional for travellers, a government source confirmed with CityNews.

The app, currently required by travellers to provide mandatory travel and public health information when entering the country, will expire on September 30.

The feds last extended public health measures at borders, including using the ArriveCan app, on June 29. At the time, the government said 95 per cent of land and air travellers had been using the app.

On June 20, Canada suspended COVID-19 vaccine mandates for domestic travel on planes and trains and outbound international travellers.

The Canadian government has also since lifted COVID-19 vaccine mandates for federally regulated workers, including those in public service, the RCMP, and transport workers, including truckers.