e-3937 (Health)
- Keywords
- COVID-19
- Pandemic
- Public health
Original language of petition: English
Petition to the Government of Canada
- COVID-19 restrictions and mandates have been present in our lives for two years;
- Canadian provinces and jurisdictions around the world, such as the United Kingdom, Ireland, Sweden, Denmark, Israel, and several others, have ended all COVID-19 restrictions or have plans in place to do so;
- Canada’s Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam has stated all existing public health policies need to be “re-examined” and that we “need to get back to some normalcy”;
- Liberal MP Joël Lightbound called upon the federal Government to present a plan to end COVID restrictions; and
- According to the Angus Reid Institute, 82% of Canadians agree that the pandemic has pulled people further apart, 54% of Canadians say their mental health has worsened since the start of the pandemic and 64% of Canadians support the removal of COVID-19 restrictions.
Response by the Minister of Health
Signed by (Minister or Parliamentary Secretary): Adam van Koeverden
The Government of Canada has implemented a multi-layered framework of travel and border measures to protect Canadians from the spread of COVID-19 and its variants.
To help keep people in Canada safe, the Government of Canada put in place emergency border measures, which have been effective in reducing the risk of the importation and transmission of COVID-19 and new variants in Canada related to international travel.
Unless otherwise exempt, all air travellers eligible to enter Canada who do not qualify as fully vaccinated (except children under age 5) will be tested with COVID-19 molecular tests within one calendar day of arrival and on Day 8 of their 14-day quarantine.
Fully vaccinated travellers and accompanying children under 12 may be selected for mandatory random testing. The results from mandatory random testing help inform public health advice, track the importation of the COVID-19 virus into Canada, and to monitor new variants of concern that could pose a risk to the health and safety of Canadians and Canada’s ongoing economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic.
All travellers continue to be required to submit their mandatory information in ArriveCAN within 72 hours before arriving in Canada and/or before boarding a plane or cruise ship destined for Canada.
Adjustments to Canada’s border measures are made possible by a number of factors, including Canada’s high vaccination rate, the increasing availability and use of rapid tests to detect infection, the decrease in hospitalizations, and the increasing availability of treatment for COVID-19 in Canada.
The current requirements for travellers arriving in Canada are expected to remain in effect until September 30, 2022. Any easing or modification of the current border restrictions in Canada is done based on the latest scientific evidence and in close consultation with our provincial, territorial and international partners, including industry stakeholders, with the top priority being the health and safety of Canadians.
As vaccination levels and healthcare system capacity improve, the Government of Canada will continue to consider further easing of measures at the borders, and when to lift or adjust those measures to keep people in Canada safe.
- Open for signature
- March 17, 2022, at 2:23 p.m. (EDT)
- Closed for signature
- April 16, 2022, at 2:23 p.m. (EDT)
- Presented to the House of Commons
-
Pierre Poilievre
(Carleton)
June 17, 2022 (Petition No. 441-00614) - Government response tabled
- September 20, 2022
Only validated signatures are counted towards the total number of signatures.
Province / Territory | Signatures |
---|---|
Alberta | 624 |
British Columbia | 744 |
Manitoba | 124 |
New Brunswick | 33 |
Newfoundland and Labrador | 26 |
Northwest Territories | 2 |
Nova Scotia | 44 |
Nunavut | 1 |
Ontario | 1051 |
Prince Edward Island | 10 |
Quebec | 309 |
Saskatchewan | 98 |
Yukon | 4 |