A spokesperson for the Ministry of Health recently revealed that British Columbia residents could download their federal vaccine passports for international travel by the end of October. Furthermore, the said passports can be accessed using the same provincial portal where they downloaded the BC vaccine card.
The Ministry of Health spokesperson added that the nationally standardized document would be available for download by October 30. The schedule is aligned with the federal government’s mandate of having proof of vaccination when travelling within Canada or internationally.
The vaccine passport is in line with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s mandate that a standardized COVID-19 system will be set up for all Canadians for domestic and international travel beginning October 30.
“All other provinces have agreed and are working hard to come online so that as Canadians look to start travelling again, there will be a standardized proof of vaccination certificate,” Trudeau emphasized. He also stressed that the federal government will be “picking up the tab for at the federal level to ensure that all provinces can do it.”
Notably, while the federal government has already given the vaccine certificates from several provinces the stamp of approval, the one from BC is not certified yet. When asked for an estimated timeline regarding the availability of the federal vaccine card in the province, Premier John Horgan related that he still doesn’t know. However, he added that “we’re going to clarify those issues in the days ahead.”
Remarkably, the federal government stressed that provincial vaccine passports will still be accepted until all Canadians access the standardized COVID-19 system.
