Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is leaving the door open to tighter travel restrictions, including a possible ban on outbound air travel as COVID-19 case counts climb across the country.
“We’re always open to strengthening them as necessary,” Trudeau said, referring to measures restricting international flights.
He said the government is keeping a close eye on countries where more easily transmissible strains of the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 have broken out.
The prime minister pointed to worrisome mutations in Brazil as well as the United Kingdom, whose outbound flights Canada banned in December.
Those flights have been permitted again after government began requiring incoming air travellers to present proof of recent negative COVID-19 tests before boarding.
“We will continue to look at various variants, various geographies, and make sure we’re taking the right decisions and the right measures to keep Canadians safe,” Trudeau said at a press conference at Rideau Hall on Friday.
The choice of whether to bar travel to the United States lies largely with the U.S., not Canada, since the country of arrival has jurisdiction over who enters, he added.
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