Vaccine mandate for travel begins Saturday. Minister says fly-in communities exempt

People in fly-in communities accessing essential services will be exempt from a federal requirement that air passengers be vaccinated against COVID-19.

Transport Minister Omar Alghabra says those who need to leave their remote communities to access food or medical services will be able to do so, even if they haven’t been vaccinated.

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He announced more details of the vaccine mandate for air, boat and interprovincial train travel at Pearson Airport in Mississauga, Ont., this afternoon.

It comes into effect tomorrow.

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Alghabra says there will also be a grace period for unvaccinated foreign nationals to leave Canada by air or boat.

They’ll have until Feb. 28 to board a plane leaving Canada with only a negative COVID-19 test if they choose to remain unvaccinated.

He says that after that, they’ll be subject to the same requirements as everyone else.