Just two weeks after Canada relaxed its borders and welcomed international travelers again, a minimal yet positive increase in passenger movement was seen almost immediately.
However, only those fully vaccinated—with vaccines approved by the federal government of Canada—are allowed into the country. These vaccines include Comirnaty from Pfizer-BioNTech, Janssen from Johnson & Johnson, and Spikevax from Moderna.
Remarkably, 209,838 airline passengers have been documented to arrive in Canada between September 6 to 12, with 114,457 of the same being Canadian citizens. Compared to a similar time frame last year, the overall passenger count did not even reach fifty-thousand.
Moreover, it was announced on September 7 that mandatory quarantine would not be imposed for fully vaccinated international travelers. But they should have been administered with the four approved vaccines stated earlier to be covered by this exemption.
As for land travel, 146,948 travelers were tallied between September 6 to 12. Compared to a similar time frame last year, the overall count was only recorded at 67,608. While U.S. citizens have already been allowed to enter Canada by land since August 9, Canadians are still prohibited from traveling by land until now.
Regardless of citizenship, travelers arriving in Canada are still required to observe the prescribed testing and quarantine protocols. Concerning this, there are already 6,853 Quarantine Act offenses tallied as of April 2020.