Toronto 
Canada is suspending the mandatory COVID-19 vaccine requirement for domestic and outbound travellers, federally regulated transportation workers and federal employees.
The government today announced that vaccination requirements will be suspended as of June 20th.
Vaccination against COVID-19 is still required for passengers and crew on cruise ships.
Mandatory masking will continue to apply on trains, planes and ships. The government says mandatory masking will be enforced throughout a traveller’s journey.
Minister of Transport of Canada Omar Alghabra said in a statement, “The mandatory vaccination requirement successfully mitigated the full impact of COVID-19 for travellers and workers in the transportation sector and provided broader protection to our communities. Suspending this requirement is possible thanks to the tens of millions of Canadians who did the right thing: they stepped up, rolled up their sleeves, and got vaccinated. This action will support Canada’s transportation system as we recover from the pandemic.”
In addition, employers in the federally regulated air, rail, and marine sectors will no longer be required to have mandatory vaccination policies in place for employees.
Starting June 20th, federal employees including the Royal Canadian Mounted Police will no longer be required to be vaccinated as a condition of employment. This means that those who were subject to administrative leave without pay, as a result of the vaccination policy, may resume regular work duties with pay.
As per the news release, 2,108 federal employees were on administrative leave without pay as a result of declining to disclose their vaccination status or because they were unwilling to be vaccinated with two doses as of May 30, 2022.
Entry requirements to Canada from abroad:
The government says entry requirements for Canadian citizens and Canadian permanent residents returning from international destinations remain the same. If they are not fully vaccinated, they are required to provide a valid pre-entry test result, remain subject to Day 1 and Day 8 molecular testing, and quarantine for 14 days.
Foreign nationals who are not fully vaccinated continue to be prohibited entry into Canada.
All travellers are required to submit their mandatory information via ArriveCAN (free mobile app or website), including proof of vaccination in English or French before coming to the airport. Those who arrive without completing their ArriveCAN submission may be subject to Day 1, Day 8 molecular testing, quarantine for 14 days, and to fines or other enforcement actions, regardless of their vaccination status.
The federal government temporarily suspended mandatory randomized testing for COVID-19 at all airports between Saturday, June 11 and Thursday, June 30, 2022, excluding unvaccinated Canadian travellers.
