Some updates on travel:
60% of the world's countries no longer require a test result for a Canadian tourist to visit (assuming you meet the country's definition of full vaccination, when applicable).
The United States being the most notable country for Canadians that does still require a test result for entry (by air, but not by land). It's also required for flights connecting through the U.S.
List of countries that do not require a test result:
North America: Canada**, Mexico
Caribbean: Aruba, Bonaire, Cuba, Curacao, Dominica*, Dominican Republic, Grenada, Haiti, Jamaica, Saint Barthelemy, Saint Lucia**, Sint Maarten
Central America: Belize, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Honduras, Panama
Europe: Albania, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Belarus, Belgium, Bosnia & Herzegovinia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Denmark, Faroe Islands, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Greenland, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Jersey, Kosovo, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Romania, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom | (every country except Portugal)
Middle East: Bahrain, Israel, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Yemen
South Asia: Bangladesh, India**, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka
Central Asia: Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia
Southeast Asia: Cambodia, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam
South America: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador*, Peru, Uruguay
Africa: Botswana, Cape Verde, Chad, Egypt, Ethiopia, Gabon, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Mauritania*, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Seychelles*, South Africa, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda, Zambia**, Zimbabwe
Oceania: Australia
* = test on arrival for those with symptoms
** = small percentage of random testing on arrival
Any word on when the U.S. will drop pre-departure testing (by air) ?
6 months ago I don't think anyone could have predicted that Australia and Israel would drop their pre-departure test before the United States, but here we are.
On May 14 Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg stated that pre-departure Covid tests for travel to the U.S. won’t be in place ‘forever.’ He mentioned that lifting the rule will require a CDC determination that “relaxing it would not harm the progress that we’ve made against the virus.”
The U.K.’s transportation secretary met with Buttigieg recently and he learned the U.S. is working on lifting the requirement. "My sense is that it’s moving towards endgame. I think they realize that it needs to go..My sense is by the summer."
Are Canadian airports really as crazy as I'm seeing in the media?
As we all know, the media loves to showcase the worst of everything. There's no question that Toronto (YYZ) and to a lesser degree Vancouver (YVR) are having issues. Even with Toronto, it's luck of the draw. Half of recent travellers through YYZ report it's not that bad, and the other half report nightmares.
I haven't seen any major issues consistently reported at the rest of Canada's airports.
Canadian airport traffic levels
May 2022 Canadian airport passenger numbers are on pace to end up at 74% of normal (pre-pandemic) levels, which would be 9% higher than April 2022, and would become the new highest level since the start of the pandemic over 2 years ago.
For comparison, this would be approximately 9 times higher than May 2021 passenger numbers, which were 8% of normal levels.
- At the current rate of recovery, if maintained, Canadian airports will be back to pre-pandemic traffic levels by sometime in August.
Is anything being done about the passport situation?
Allegedly some steps have been taken to help that were announced yesterday:
https://www.canada.ca/en/employment-...the-world.html
- 600 new employees to help process applications
- opened more dedicated passport intake counters
- opened additional processing hubs
- Service Canada continues to hire and train more employees, and teams at the passport office, processing and call centres are working overtime every day and on weekends to increase processing capacity. This includes opening select Service Canada Centres on Saturdays for passport service.
- A simplified renewal process now allows applicants to renew an expired passport if it was issued in the last 15 years. The simplified process is also available to those who had their passport lost, stolen or damaged. Applicants do not need to have a guarantor or provide their original documents, such as proof of citizenship or photo identification. They simply need two photos, two references, their completed form and the applicable fees.
