'What are we trying to prevent?' Growing calls for Canada to end mandatory testing for travellers returning home

Maybe the rain is getting to you and you’re dreaming of a beach vacation. Perhaps you haven’t been able to visit family since the pandemic began.

Whatever the reason, some Canadians are anxious to start travelling again.

And with several provinces easing COVID-19 restrictions, there are growing calls for Ottawa to scrap mandatory testing requirements for Canadian travellers. Some of that advice is coming from doctors.

“What are we trying to prevent with testing? Are we trying to prevent Omicron cases from coming into Canada? Well, there’s a lot of Omicron that’s already in Canada,” said Zain Chagla, an infectious diseases doctor and associate professor at McMaster University.

He also pointed out the widespread transmission of COVID-19 in Canada leads to another potential problem for would-be travellers.

Chagla said in provinces like B.C. and Ontario, where access to COVID-19 testing is extremely limited, many who have become sick at home have no way to document their infection. That means they can’t get an exemption to travel testing requirements, but do face the risk of testing positive even after they are no longer infected.

“We know that PCRs can remain positive for some individuals for three to six months,” the doctor said.

“They have to treat themselves as infectious, they have to cancel their flights, they have to isolate in a foreign country,” he said.

Chagla says border testing is also believed to be costing the federal government hundreds of millions of dollars.

“If we’re not preventing much from coming in and we’re just causing harms to people, the purpose for this type of testing is really in question,” he said.

When CTV News asked federal officials when health measures might be rolled-back, the Public Health Agency of Canada responded in an email saying the federal government “continuously assesses the latest available evidence and monitor the situation to determine when to ease or adjust border measures accordingly.”

Mandatory COVID-19 testing for Canadians returning from outside the country is costly.

“The PCR test was US$250. I had to have that in Seattle before I could come into Canada,” explained Parksville’s Barbara Duncan, who was preparing to board a flight at YVR for a second vacation to a sunny U.S. destination. She said she hadn’t faced any issues when returning to Canada from her earlier trip.

“For people with a family of two or three children, you’re getting upwards of $750 to $1,000 added on to what you would normally spend on a vacation,” said Allison Wallace, spokesperson for Flight Centre.

“On the flip side of that, there’s a lot of incentive to get people travelling again,” she explained.

She said interest in travel is growing.

“There’s definitely demand to travel and it is getting more and more so every day,” she said, adding that March bookings are up 700 per cent over the same time last year.

She advises anyone travelling to get insurance and download the ArriveCan app before leaving home.

“Book your appointment for the return test before you leave. Book it with a reputable outfit,” she said.

The myriad of obstacles facing travellers have not deterred people like Tony Trieu.

“Get out there and just go see the world,” he said as he left YVR at the end of a trip to California.