On Monday, October 25, Canada announced that it will lift the international non-essential travel ban that it instituted at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. After its successful vaccination campaign, Canada’s lifting of the non-essential global travel ban will allow Canadians to freely travel abroad.
Chief Medical Officer Theresa Tam noted that the approved COVID-19 vaccines perform exceedingly well at preventing infections and reducing the severity of illness in those who do become infected.
Canadians who wish to travel abroad may view individualized travel advisories on a map of the world. The travel industry welcomed this news, explaining that the loss of revenue caused considerable economic uncertainty for thousands of Canadians who work in the travel industry.
Although Canada lifted the global travel ban, it left in place a warning against traveling on cruise ships. One member of the cruise ship industry remarked that on two recent cruises they took, they felt safer than they did while visiting the metropolis of Toronto.
Tam encouraged Canadians to review the travel advisory map before making vacation or holiday plans. She stated that now is not the time to just pick up and go anywhere without doing due diligence.
For the past 10 days, Canada has averaged 2,600 new COVID-19 cases each day. This represents a nearly 50% drop from the peak of the delta wave.