As the COVID-19 pandemic drags on and provinces ease their lockdown restrictions, travel is opening up slowly. Here’s what you need to know now as you contemplate a potential trip — in Canada or beyond.
As the COVID-19 pandemic drags on and provinces ease their lockdown restrictions, travel is opening up — slowly.
Here’s what you need to know now if you’re yearning to take a trip — in Canada or beyond.
Domestic travel
Many Canadians have struggled this summer to figure out where they can vacation in Canada. That’s because each province and territory has created its own travel rules in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and those rules are subject to change.
Currently, Canadians can freely travel to Quebec, Ontario, Saskatchewan, Alberta and B.C. without having to self-isolate for 14 days upon arrival. Visitors to Yukon, Manitoba and Nova Scotia may be required to self-isolate, depending on which part of the country they’re travelling from.
Earlier this month, Canada’s four easternmost provinces created a travel bubble that allows Atlantic Canadians to travel freely within those provinces — with no self-isolation requirement.
Canadians outside that bubble are barred from visiting Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador — unless they meet specific criteria, such as owning a cottage in P.E.I. or New Brunswick.
There’s no word yet on when the three provinces will open their doors to all of Canada.
“I don’t think we would be looking beyond the Atlantic bubble any time soon,” P.E.I. Premier Dennis King said last week.
WATCH | Atlantic bubble allows travel within four provinces:
As of today the four Atlantic provinces are allowing travellers to move within the so-called Atlantic bubble. The response was immediate, and overwhelming, as lineups formed. 1:53
Nunavut and the Northwest Territories remain off limits to vacationers from all provinces, with the exception of residents of Churchill, Man., who can enter Nunavut.
To help navigate the varied rules, the Canadian Travel & Tourism Roundtable — a new travel and tourism lobby group — has created an interactive map to assist Canadian travellers.
People can plug in their home province and their potential destination to find out what travel restrictions they may face.
The map also provides links to many provincial websites where Canadians can get the most updated information.
“There is so much confusion,” said roundtable member Steve Sammut, who’s also the CEO of Rocky Mountaineer, a rail-tour company in Western Canada.
“We think it’s important for Canadians to understand what their options are.”
International travel
The federal government’s advisory against all non-essential international travel during the pandemic remains in effect until further notice — even as other countries start to open their borders.
“Our priority remains the health and safety of Canadians,” said Global Affairs Canada spokesperson Jason Kung in an email to CBC News.
Because it’s an advisory — not an order — Canadians can still travel abroad, but they do so at their own risk. Global Affairs said it’s not planning any repatriation flights after July. And until the advisory is lifted, international travellers likely won’t be able to purchase medical insurance that covers COVID-19-related illnesses.
“The mentality is, if our own country’s advising us not to travel to the United States or Europe or anywhere right no