With the world still experiencing the highest health crisis of this generation, countries including Canada have put some restrictions on international travel. The question many may have now is how long will the restriction take?
Health organizations and laboratories around the world are putting heads together to find a cure for the Coronavirus. And so far no cure has been confirmed, and until its safe, the restriction may continue. However, this restriction does not affect everyone as there are some exceptions.
Type of people allowed to travel
- Canadian citizens or permanent residence coming back into the country.
- Immediate family members of Canadian citizens or permanent residents.
- Immigrants with a valid work permit that is not soon to expire, or those who have been approved for a work permit.
- And International students who have a valid study permit, or those who have currently been approved for a study permit.
- Seasonal agricultural workers, fish/seafood workers, caregivers, and all other temporary foreign workers.
- Economic services and supply chains.
- Critical infrastructure support.
- Health (immediate medical care), safety, and security.
- Supporting Indigenous communities.
- Transiting through Canada for non-optional or non-discretionary purposes.
Type of people not allowed to travel
The new travel guidance released by immigration, refugees, and citizenship states that those who are exempted from the travel restriction will not be allowed to travel for reasons such as;
- Tourism, recreation, sports, or other entertainment purposes.
- To visit family members for vacation.
- Those traveling for the birth of a grandchild, nephew, niece, cousin, etc. (For the parent of a child, this may be considered non-discretionary travel; however, it will still require assessment.).
- All entry to spend time at your second home in Canada, not even for maintenance or upkeep purposes.
- For a funeral.
With all these exemptions, immigrants of travel who show any symptoms of the virus will not be granted entry into the country regardless of the reasons. In that note, travelers coming into Canada will be required to quarantine themselves for at least 14 days for the day they enter the country.
To that effect, you will be expected to state where you plan to stay during your quarantine period, and how you are supposed to get groceries or feed.