COVID-19 restrictions are lifting, but unvaccinated Canadians still can't board planes or trains

Because she's unvaccinated against COVID-19, Tamika McIntosh of Brampton, Ont., wasn't allowed to board a plane to fly to Jamaica last month to attend her grandfather's funeral.

Now, McIntosh combs the news daily for any indication when Canada might lift its vaccine mandate for travellers so she can finally go to Jamaica and pay her last respects. 

"You don't get the closure when you don't get to physically be there to say goodbye," said McIntosh. "Until I physically get to go to his grave site and spend some time there, that void will always be open."

Canada's vaccine mandate — which took effect in November 2021 to boost vaccination rates — prevents unvaccinated Canadians from boarding a commercial plane or train in Canada to both domestic and international destinations. Now that COVID-19 restrictions are fast disappearing, some unvaccinated Canadians question why the federal government still maintains the mandate.

"I don't think it's fair," said McIntosh. "I don't have mobility rights. I'm still stuck in a country and I can't leave."

Although COVID-19 vaccines available in Canada have been deemed safe and effective by Health Canada and other regulators, McIntosh still has reservations about getting the shot. 

"I just feel like I have the right to choose," she said.

More than 85 per cent of Canadians aged five and older are now fully vaccinated

Meanwhile, following a decline in COVID-19 cases after the Omicron wave, Canada's provinces are dropping most or all of their vaccine mandates. That means unvaccinated people can return to venues such as restaurants, gyms and hockey games. 

They are also welcome in many countries such as England, Ireland, Iceland and Norway, which have dropped all their COVID-19 travel restrictions. Other countries, such as Greece and Jamaica allow unvaccinated travellers to enter with a negative COVID-19 test. 

The Canadian government isn't "paying attention to the things that are going on in other countries," said Kathy Neudorf of Langley, B.C., who is also unvaccinated and eager to travel. 

"I don't have the freedom to come and go as I choose … I can't even go across to Quebec or something, because I can't get on a plane."

Canada's chief public health officer, Dr. Teresa Tam, said Ottawa is reviewing its vaccine mandates for both travellers and federal workers, with an eye to dropping them. But she suggested the current resurgence of COVID-19 cases globally could delay that plan. 

"The potential for the Omicron resurgence, particularly the subtype BA.2 can still occur. So I think this is just waiting to see what happens with that situation," she said at a House of Commons health committee meeting on Monday.