All travellers will once again be required to take a PCR test before returning to Canada, no matter how long they've been out of the country.
The Federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos announced the federal government is reinstituting the requirement with the rise of the Omicron variant around the world. As an extra requirement, the test must be taken in a country outside of Canada.
The government removed the requirement for travellers making trips less than 72 hours for a short time. A negative test result will be required again as of Tuesday.
Chief Medical Officer Theresa Tam admitted with the incubation period of the virus, the pre-arrival test after a short trip may not prevent someone from bringing the virus back to Canada.
"If you went to the United States and you catch COVID-19, you catch the virus, it does take a bit of time for incubation period to occur," said Dr. Tam. "The test taken just before Canada won't catch everyone. We believe based on the information that we have, the Omicron virus seems to escalate, you catch and then the incubation period maybe a little shorter than for the other viruses, that is still under investigation."
As another layer of protection, some travellers will be selected at the border for random testing.
"As all measures, this is not a perfect measure but it is an additional layer to protect the health and safety of those who are travelling and those who would be exposed to them," said Duclos.
In addition, the government is removing travel restrictions directed at 10 countries where the Omicron variant was originally prevalent. With the variant evident worldwide, the government has determined that extra precautions are no longer prudent.
On Wednesday, the government issued a travel advisory telling residents to avoid all non-essential travel outside of Canada.
Around 21,000 travellers are being tested at random upon arrival at Canadian airports. The government is increasing capacity and hope to test around 23,000 travellers daily by the end of the week.