Category: Canada

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has announced that non-essential travellers entering the country through the US border will have to provide proof of a negative Covid-19 test from next week.

“As of February 15, when you return to Canada through a land border, you’ll need to show a 72-hour PCR test, just like air travel,” Trudeau said at his press conference here on Tuesday.

Should Canadians or permanent residents not be able to provide that test result, they could face severe penalties, including fines of up to C$3,000.

The Canada-US border has been closed to non-essential travel since March 2020.

Trudeau said his government will also implement some other new measures to ensure extensive follow up by Health Canada to ensure they are getting tested and properly quarantining.

“What we can do is in cases of no test to show (is) apply a stiff penalty, a fine and demand and ensure a rapid and complete follow-up to make sure that they are getting tested, that they are being properly quarantined, that they are not putting at risk the safety of other Canadians by returning home without a clear negative test,” the Prime Minister said.

Tuesday’s announcement comes more than a month after Trudeau announced that air travellers will need proof of negative polymerase chain reaction tests three days before boarding their flights home.

Inbound air travellers need to take a second test when arriving, then quarantine at a government-designated hotel for three days while awaiting their test results.

All are at their own expense.

However, more people are coming into Canada via vehicle than on an airplane.

Data from the Canada Border Services Agency show that 2.9 million people, excluding essential truck drivers, entered through a land border crossing, while 2.4 million arrived by flights since the end of March 2020.

Canada has so far reported a total of 810,166 coronavirus cases and 20,893 deaths.

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The ban, which was imposed in February 2020 and scheduled to end this month, has been extended to Februaty 28, 2022…reports Asian Lite News

The Canadian government has announced its decision extend a ban on cruise ships in the country’s waters for one more year to 2022.

The ban, which was imposed in February 2020 and scheduled to end this month, has been extended to Februaty 28, 2022, Xinhua news agency quoted the government as saying in a statement on Thursday.

Under the ban, cruise vessels carrying more than 100 people are prohibited from operating in Canadian waters, as well as adventure-seeking pleasure crafts operating in the country’s Arctic waters, except for those used by residents in the region.

Those who do not comply with the pleasure craft prohibition could be subject to penalties: C$5,000 per day for individuals and C$25,000 per day for groups or corporations.

“As Canadians continue to do their part to reduce the spread of Covid-19, our government continues to work hard to ensure Canada’s transportation system remains safe,” Transport Minister Omar Alghabra was quoted as saying in the statement.

“Temporary prohibitions to cruise vessels and pleasure craft are essential to continue to protect the most vulnerable among our communities and avoid overwhelming our health care systems. This is the right and responsible thing to do,” the Minister added.

Alghabra also advised Canadian citizens and permanent residents to avoid all travel on cruise ships outside the country until further notice.

Also read:Canada to produce its own vaccines

The Canadian company in Montreal submitted its vaccine to Health Canada for regulatory approval last Friday…reports Asian Lite News

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that Canada’s National Research Council-owned Royalmount facility will produce millions of Covid-19 vaccine shots developed by Maryland-based Novavax.

The Canadian company in Montreal submitted its vaccine to Health Canada for regulatory approval last Friday. Its production is expected to start in the fall this year as the global market is contending with delivery delays and protectionist measures, Xinhua news agency reported on Tuesday.

“This is a major step forward to get vaccines made in Canada, for Canadians. We need as much domestic capacity for vaccine production as possible,” Trudeau said at a press conference in Ottawa. “We won’t rest until every Canadian who wants a vaccine has received one.”

Last summer, Trudeau announced more than 125 million Canadian dollars (US $97.7 million) to upgrade the National Research Council facility to produce vaccines domestically and avoid the global scramble for shots.

Trudeau pointed that more contagious Covid-19 variants now taking hold in Canada mean tough rules must be implemented in the next few weeks. “These new variants out there are of real concern.”

Canadian Chief Public Health Officer Theresa Tam said on Tuesday at least 148 cases of the variants that first emerged in Britain and South Africa have been confirmed across the country, although overall counts of new Covid-19 cases continue to decline.

The four cases of the South African variant that were confirmed in British Columbia province and the one case reported in Ontario province have no known link to international travel, raising fears of community spread.

“I think there are definitely signs that the variants are certainly transmitted to a certain extent in communities, and we are not detecting them all,” Tam said. “We need to be very vigilant and very cautious about relaxation of those public health measures.”

Over the past seven days, an average of 4,368 new Covid-19 cases have been reported daily across Canada, a nearly 50 per cent drop from three weeks ago, Tam said.

Hospitalizations are also on the decline, falling 12 per cent over the past week to fewer than 3,900 patients in care. Fatal cases have fallen by 20 percent to 128 deaths per day.

As of Tuesday afternoon, Canada reported a cumulative total of 785,494 cases and 20,186 deaths, according to CTV.

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Constantly evolving news about Covid-19 variants from other countries has spurred the government to consider sharpening the measures already in place and updated measures will be published very soon, said Trudeau…reports Asian Lite News

Canada is considering tightening its measures against Covid-19 pandemic as Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has urged the public to cancel all the non-essential travel plans both abroad and in between provinces across the country.

Constantly evolving news about Covid-19 variants from other countries has spurred the government to consider sharpening the measures already in place and updated measures will be published very soon, Trudeau said.

“The bad choices of a few will never be allowed to put everyone else in danger,” he said at a press conference in the capital city of Ottawa.

While the number of new cases linked to travel remains low, a single case imported from abroad is a case too many and the federal government is actively looking at ways to tighten the border, Trudeau said.

The government wants to ensure that any measures don’t cut off the flow of trade, he said, noting that commercial flights coming into Canada from around the world might have non-essential travelers onboard, but essential cargo in the belly of the plane, Xinhua reported.

The border between Canada and the United States has been closed to non-essential travelers since March 2020, while international travelers flying into Canada must provide a negative COVID-19 test 72 hours before boarding their flights.

Also read:Canada Covid Cases Surpass 7L

In a first phone call with a foreign leader since his inauguration as the 46th President of the US, Joe Biden will speak to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, according to the White House.

Addressing reporters on Wednesday shortly after Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris’ inauguration, press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters: “I expect they will certainly discuss the important relationship with Canada as well as (Biden’s) decision on the Keystone pipeline that he announced today.”

The call will take place two days after Biden signed an executive order to revoke the existing presidential permit for the controversial Keystone XL pipeline project, which would carry oil from Canada to the American Gulf Coast.

In response, Prime Minister Trudeau said that “we are disappointed but acknowledge the President’s decision to fulfil his election campaign promise on Keystone XL”, but “I look forward to working with President Biden to reduce pollution, combat climate change, fight Covid-19, create middle class jobs, and build back better by supporting a sustainable economic recovery for everyone”.

The Keystone XL project was rejected by former President Barack Obama in 2015.

Former President Donald Trump reversed the decision in 2017 and granted a presidential permit to build the pipeline.

Soon after the inauguration Trudeau congratulated President Biden and Vice President Harris through a tweet in which he expressed the optimism in “continuing the partnership” between both the countries.

“Congratulations, @JoeBiden, on your inauguration as the 46th President of the United States. Our two countries have tackled some of history’s greatest challenges together – and I’m looking forward to continuing this partnership with you, @KamalaHarris, and your administration,” he tweeted.

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