LCC News

Vaccination requirements for air, rail, and marine travellers

October 15, 2021

Vaccination requirements for air, rail, and marine travellers

The government of Canada has announced updates to those departing from Canadian airports. Effective October 30, travellers departing from Canadian airports, and travellers on VIA Rail and Rocky Mountaineer trains will be required to be fully vaccinated in order to travel. To allow travellers time to become fully vaccinated, there will be a short transition period where they will be able to travel if they show a valid COVID-19 molecular test within 72 hours of travel as an alternative to providing proof of full vaccination. If travellers have not already started the vaccination process, or do not start soon, they risk not qualifying for travel as of November 30.

We understand that the announcement, and primarily the lack of clarity on several important details regarding this new requirement, is cause for concern for LC members… The Languages Canada team met with senior representatives from IRCC and Global Affairs Canada this morning, alongside colleagues from CAPS-I, CICan, Universities Canada, and CBIE, to raise the concerns of the sector in terms of how this announcement will impact international students, both incoming and those already in Canada.

LCC’s partners are committed to putting international students’ interests forward in order to ensure they are well represented when it comes down to travel and studying in Canada. We will continue posting updates as soon as we receive them.