COQUITLAM — Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says it will be “quite a while” before Canada reopens its border to unvaccinated travellers.

Speaking to reporters yesterday at a briefing in B.C., Trudeau said: “You mentioned that you were wondering when unvaccinated tourists can start coming to Canada. I can tell you right now that’s not going to happen for quite a while.”

Trudeau added: “We need to ensure that the safety of Canadians, the sacrifices that so many people have made over the past many, many months, are not for nothing. We are not going to jeopardize that by moving too quickly.”

Trudeau said he’s aware of the pandemic’s impact on Canada’s tourism industry, and noted the financial assistance programs put in place by the federal government since the start of the pandemic. 

Many of those programs including CEWS, CERS and CRB have started to wind down, and so far are scheduled to stop in September. For months industry organizations including ACTA and the Coalition of Hardest Hit Businesses have warned the federal government about the dire impact if there’s no sector-specific support to bridge businesses through to true recovery.

Fully vaccinated Canadians and permanent residents returning to Canada no longer have to quarantine, as part of the eased travel restrictions that took effect July 5. However quarantine measures still apply to inbound foreign nationals.

The next renewal date for the Canada-U.S. border closure is July 21. On June 22, Trudeau hinted that further eased travel restrictions could be a matter of weeks, not months, away.

“We will move responsibly forward, we will continue with the reopening of our borders, but we will do it in a way that ensures the ongoing safety of all Canadians,” he said.