COVID-19 Testing Suspended At Airports For Vaccinated Travelers.

The federal government has announced that it has suspended mandatory random COVID-19 testing at all airports for vaccinated travelers.

The federal government has announced that it has suspended mandatory random COVID-19 testing at all airports for vaccinated travelers.

Between now and the end of June, randomized testing at Canadian airports will be “temporarily suspended,” although unvaccinated travelers will continue to be tested on-site. As of July 1, all testing, including for unvaccinated travelers, will be performed off-site.

This comes after mounting pressure from the travel and aviation industry calling on the federal government to ease COVID-19 restrictions amid long lines and delays at airports, particularly Toronto Pearson International Airport.

The federal government had already exempted international travelers with a connecting flight from being pulled aside for random testing. 

Other measures, such as COVID-19 vaccine mandates and mandatory use of the ArriveCAN app, remain in place. The federal government says the Public Health Agency of Canada is deploying additional staff to airports to verify ArriveCAN submissions and assist travelers in using the app.

The travel and aviation industries are welcoming the move to pause random testing at airports, calling it a step in the right direction.

However, the Conservatives say pausing random testing doesn't go far enough and have been calling on the Liberals to lift all remaining COVID-19 travel measures, including vaccine mandates.