SNOWBIRDS APPLAUD THE ELIMINATION OF PRE-ARRIVAL COVID-19 TESTING REQUIREMENT

TORONTO, March 16, 2022 /CNW/ - The Canadian Snowbird Association (CSA) applauds the federal government's decision to remove the pre-arrival testing requirement for fully vaccinated travellers entering Canada at airports and land border crossings effective April 1, 2022. This decision comes after months of extensive lobbying by CSA officials to lift the mandatory testing requirement for vaccinated Canadian travellers returning home.

In May 2021, the federal government's own COVID-19 Testing and Screening Expert Advisory Panel recommended that the federal government eliminate pre-arrival testing for fully vaccinated travellers entering Canada as travellers who have been vaccinated pose a lower risk of importation and transmission of SARS-CoV-2. The CSA has been advocating for the removal of this requirement since the advisory panel first made this recommendation nearly ten months ago.

"The elimination of the costly and unnecessary pre-arrival testing requirement for fully vaccinated Canadian travellers has been an advocacy priority of the CSA," said Karen Huestis, president of the Canadian Snowbird Association. "The Canadian Snowbird Association is pleased that the federal government is finally acting on this recommendation to revise the entry requirements and adopt a science-based approach to testing."

The Canadian Snowbird Association is an over 115,000 member, non-profit, non-partisan organization representing Canadian travellers from across the country. The CSA works in partnership with government and business to educate and advocate on behalf of all travelling Canadians, helping to ensure access to safe, healthy travel with no restrictions on freedom of movement.

SOURCE Canadian Snowbird Association

Evan Rachkovsky, Director of Research and Communications, Canadian Snowbird Association, [phone], [email protected], www.snowbirds.org