Most of Canada to receive emergency alert test today
The federal government will test its capacity to issue emergency alerts today, with the exception of Ontario, where the test will take place on May 15.
Fully vaccinated Canadians returning to the country from abroad expressed relief Monday at no longer having to quarantine for two weeks.
Effective this week, citizens and permanent residents who've had a full course of a COVID-19 vaccine approved for use in Canada can skip the 14-day quarantine. Eligible air travellers also no longer have to spend their first three days in the country at a government-approved hotel.
Julia Dunn, who landed at Toronto's Pearson International Airport from the United States while on her way to Halifax, said she was glad the restrictions had eased.
"It's very freeing being able to get home to family without having to spend those two weeks alone," she said.
Dunn, who is originally from Cape Breton but now lives in Houston, said she booked her trip to Canada after learning about the planned easing of quarantine rules a few weeks ago.
"My friend let me know that things were being lifted and as soon as we found that out, then we booked my flight so I could get home," she said.
Denise Saliva, who flew in to Toronto from New Jersey with her husband, had also waited for the rules to ease before booking her trip to Canada.
The couple said they were flying to Western Canada to see their pregnant daughter, who was due to give birth soon.
"(We're) really relieved," Saliva said. "We waited since May, because we don't want to be quarantined."
Minraj Sekhon, who was travelling to Vancouver, said he had to quarantine after a previous journey during the pandemic and was pleased he no longer needed to do so.
"Feels like things are getting back to normal," Sekhon said during a stopover in Toronto. "It's good that they're implementing different kinds of things rather than forcing everyone to pay and go to a hotel."
Jeff Watters, a fully vaccinated essential worker, said he was originally set to arrive in Toronto from Guyana on Sunday.
He said he was prepared to quarantine, but a delayed flight meant he was able to take advantage of the new rules.
"I've been away for a month. It's nice to go home," said Watters.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the easing of the rules mark a "big step," adding that travel volumes are expected to increase with the change.
"We're going to ensure that our airports and our travel facilities are able to handle the new surge with careful measures in place," he told reporters on Monday.
The Canada Border Services Agency has noted that while the quarantine rules for some travellers have changed, eligibility requirements for crossing the border have not.
Mutual travel restrictions between Canada and the United States -- which prohibit all discretionary travel between the two countries while continuing to allow the movement of trade, essential workers and international students -- are due to expire July 21.
Trudeau said he understands how eager people are to see the border reopen, but noted that the pandemic is still ongoing and "things aren't normal yet."
"Nobody wants us to move too fast and have to reimpose restrictions as case numbers rise like we're seeing elsewhere in the world," he said. "We need to do this right.
Travellers must use the ArriveCAN app or web portal prior to departure to log their vaccination details, as well as the results of a negative COVID-19 test that's less than three days old.
The ArriveCAN portal can be accessed either via the Apple or Android app or online via the federal government's website at canada.ca. Travellers are required to use the latest version of the app, which will be updated when the regulations change.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 5, 2021.
The federal government will test its capacity to issue emergency alerts today, with the exception of Ontario, where the test will take place on May 15.
An Ontario woman said it would have been impossible to buy a house without her mother – an anecdote that animates the fact that over 17 per cent of Canadian homeowners born in the ‘90s own their property with their parents, according to a new report.
Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, has made headlines with his recent arrival in the U.K., this time to celebrate all things Invictus. But upon the prince landing in the U.K., we have already had confirmation that King Charles III won't have time to see his youngest son during his brief visit.
A chicken farmer near Mattawa made an 'eggstraordinary' find Friday morning when she discovered one of her hens laid an egg close to three times the size of an average large chicken egg.
A long-simmering feud between hip-hop superstars Drake and Kendrick Lamar reached a boiling point in recent days as the pair traded increasingly personal insults on a succession of diss tracks. Here’s a quick overview of what’s behind the ongoing beef.
Canadian immigrants threatened by hostile regimes are urging parliamentarians to quickly pass the 'Countering Foreign Interference Act' so they can feel safe living in their adopted home.
An Ontario man found out that a line of credit he thought was insured actually isn't after his wife of 50 years died.
Spanish state prosecutors recommended Wednesday that an investigating judge shelve a probe into another alleged case of tax fraud by pop star Shakira.
With Donald Trump sitting just feet away, Stormy Daniels testified Tuesday at the former president's hush money trial about a sexual encounter the porn actor says they had in 2006 that resulted in her being paid to keep silent during the presidential race 10 years later.
An Ontario man says he paid more than $7,700 for a luxury villa he found on a popular travel website -- but the listing was fake.
Whether passionate about Poirot or hungry for Holmes, Winnipeg mystery obsessives have had a local haunt for over 30 years in which to search out their latest page-turners.
Eighty-two-year-old Susan Neufeldt and 90-year-old Ulrich Richter are no spring chickens, but their love blossomed over the weekend with their wedding at Pine View Manor just outside of Rosthern.
Alberta Ballet's double-bill production of 'Der Wolf' and 'The Rite of Spring' marks not only its final show of the season, but the last production for twin sisters Alexandra and Jennifer Gibson.
A mother goose and her goslings caused a bit of a traffic jam on a busy stretch of the Trans-Canada Highway near Vancouver Saturday.
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
A group of SaskPower workers recently received special recognition at the legislature – for their efforts in repairing one of Saskatchewan's largest power plants after it was knocked offline for months following a serious flood last summer.
A police officer on Montreal's South Shore anonymously donated a kidney that wound up drastically changing the life of a schoolteacher living on dialysis.