Canada’s cruise industry is welcoming a change to federal COVID-19 testing rules for international travellers, but as the start of the new season approaches, questions about passenger testing remain.
Ottawa announced Tuesday that at the end of the month, fully-vaccinated international travellers can use either a rapid antigen test or a PCR test to fulfill their border entry requirements.
It’s unclear, however, what the requirements will be for inbound international cruise ships, whose passengers will have already tested negative for COVID-19 as requirement for boarding.
“We now need to understand just how they expect the rapid antigen tests to be administered within that 24-hour window that they’re now talking about,” explained Barry Penner, legal advisor to Cruise Lines International Association in Canada.
“There will be questions I’m sure about whether or not there’s a factor of redundancy having a factor of multiple rapid antigen tests. Those are things that we’ll work on.”
British Columbia is the hub of cruise travel in Canada, making up about 50 per cent of all cruise traffic, according to a report from Destination BC. The cruise season generally begins in April and wraps up in October.
According to Penner, the industry generates $2.6 billion in economic activity and employs 17,000 people in B.C., while generating $4 billion nationwide and providing about 30,000 jobs.
As pandemic restrictions begin to ease across the country, Penner said the industry outlook is “positive.”
“I’m getting more optimistic as things move on,” he told Global News. “We recognize Transport Canada has been working hard to get us to where we are now, and we’re a lot closer to having everything resolved than we were even a few weeks ago.”
Meetings are scheduled with Health Canada, Transport Canada and cruise industry stakeholders throughout the week, Penner said.
In a press conference Tuesday, federal Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said he expects to have details finalized for the cruise sector well before the start of the 2022 season.
“I know how important the cruise season is to the tourism industry in many communities like Victoria and Quebec City,” he told reporters.
“This is why I can assure you that we will have more to say very soon about how testing for cruise ship travellers arriving at Canadian ports will work, in time for the cruise ship season this spring.”
This week, the U.S. Centres for Disease Control and Prevention downgraded their public guidance on cruise ship travel from “very high” level, which asks people to avoid cruise travel, to “high” level, which urges only fully-vaccinated passengers to participate.
The Canadian government has not yet changed its guidance, which continues to recommend against cruise ship travel outside of the country.
Penner said he hopes that change comes soon, noting that double-vaccination and a negative test result are requirements for virtually everyone on board cruise ships, and robust health and safety plans are in place.
“It’s a bit incongruous to say on the one hand, we’re welcoming cruise ships back to Canada, but advising people not go on them,” he said.
“We’re hoping the federal government will lift that advisory shortly to send a more positive signal and help our travel agents with their marketing efforts.”
Eduardo Bilardello, owner of Brioche Ristorante in Vancouver’s historic Gastown neighbourhood, said he hopes to see a successful cruise season as well.
His restaurant, which depends on traffic from cruise ships, shut down for three months during the pandemic, forcing Bilardello to lay off several staff and work in the kitchen himself.
“More than 60 per cent of my business was gone,” he said in an interview. “The tourists, which were the bread and butter for our business — the lunch crowd — were all gone.
“It was a very tough decision to continue and keep on going not knowing what the circumstances we’re going to be in the future.”
The first cruise ship to B.C. is expected to arrive in Victoria on April 6 and in Vancouver on April 7.