Vaccine Passports Coming to Canada, Trudeau Health Minister Says

Vaccine Passports Coming to Canada, Trudeau Health Minister Says

May 2, 2021 Jim Byers

Canada is moving ahead with vaccine passports for international travel, the Trudeau government says.

In a weekend interview with CBC Radio, federal Health Minister Patty Hajdu said her government will make sure such certificates are in place so Canadians can travel internationally.

“Canadians are going to want to travel and, just like there have been changes in other kinds of travel requirements over the years as a result of a number of events, Canadians need to be prepared to be able to travel internationally. And we’ll make sure that they are,” Hajdu said.

“Canadians need to be able to have the right kind of certification for international travel because, as we know, Canadians will want to travel internationally, and they will want to make sure they have the right credentials to do that from a vaccination perspective,” she said.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau last week said that vaccine certificates are “naturally to be expected when it comes to this pandemic and the coronavirus.”

Countries around the world are moving to some kind of proof of vaccination certificate or passport that will allow authorities to know who’s been inoculated against COVID-19. The European Union recently said it will open its borders to vaccinated Americans, and there are reports the EU will invite Canadians to visit at some point.

“I would say that our goal is to open the borders as soon as possible … when it is safe to do so, safe for Europeans and safe for visitors from other countries, including from Canada,” EU Ambassador to Canada Melita Gabrič told CBC’s The House.

A recent poll by Ipsos found strong support in Canada for the idea of people needing to show a vaccine certificate to enter the country. A full 78% of Canadians agreed (56% said they strongly support the idea, compared to 21% who “somewhat” support it). That’s exactly the same as the global average, Ipsos said.

Trudeau has talked about using vaccine passports for travel but appears hesitant on the idea of emulating Israel, which allows access to some public facilities only for those with proof of vaccination.

The Ipsos survey found that 61% of Canadians support the idea that only people who have been vaccinated should be allowed to do things that involve larger groups of people, such as taking a light or attending cultural and sports events. By contrast, 39% of Canadians feel that limiting activities only to those who have been vaccinated is unfair to those who are ineligible, are waiting for a vaccine or choose not to be vaccinated.