Ontario Premier Doug Ford Wants Pre-Flight COVID Testing for Domestic Passengers

April 28, 2021 Jim Byers

The Ontario government is asking Ottawa to require pre-flight COVID-19 testing for domestic passengers flying into the province.

The Doug Ford government says domestic passengers carry risks and should be treated the same as international arrivals, who must present a negative COVID-19 test before they board a flight and are tested again upon arrival.

Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliott and Solicitor General Sylvia Jones say the measure would help limit the spread of highly contagious variants.

“Currently, there are no measures in place to protect provinces from the spread of COVID-19 variants through interprovincial air travel within our country, an area of federal responsibility,” Elliott and Jones wrote in a letter to their federal counterparts, federal Health Minister Patty Hajdu and Public Safety Minister Bill Blair.

“In the past two weeks, there have been 17 domestic flights into Pearson International Airport with possible COVID-19 exposures. There have also been potential exposures on flights landing at other Ontario airports including Ottawa and Hamilton,” they said.

“We are asking that you implement mandatory predeparture PCR testing for all domestic air travellers entering Ontario.”

The Ford government letter doesn’t appear to mention testing upon arrival, or suggest that domestic travellers also be subject to three-day hotel quarantines, as international travellers are.

The Toronto Star reports that its sources say Ontario also is “considering a similar testing requirement for anyone arriving in Ontario by car, bus or train from another province.”

“We are looking at all options,” said Stephen Warner, a spokesman for the solicitor general.

Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic LeBlanc on Tuesday said Ottawa is open to provincial suggestions on how to handle domestic flights.

Transport Minister Omar Alghabra is examining “what we can do in terms of increased surveillance at airports, but it will be a partnership with the government of Ontario,” LeBlanc is quoted as saying in The Globe and Mail. “We are always there to discourage people from travelling or leaving their homes for non-essential reasons.”

The Ford government also has demanded that Ottawa ban non-Canadians from entering Canada from countries with known COVID-19 variant hot spots.

The federal government and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have said they have already banned most non-Canadians from flying into Canada, but some family members are exempt from the rules.

New Brunswick last week brought in hotel isolation rules for domestic travellers, and Nova Scotia has closed its borders to non-essential travellers from across Canada, with the exception of PEI and Newfoundland & Labrador. PEI requires anyone from outside the province to self-isolate for 14 days upon arrival.

Ontario could enact similar policies, but has chosen not to do so.

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