As we inch closer to a phased border reopening, there's one big question that Open Jaw reports and travel industry stakeholders have kept asking: how is Ottawa is going to facilitate verification of vaccine status?
Federal government ministers have said the first phase of easing border restrictions will likely happen in “early JUL” - beginning with permitting fully-vaccinated Canadians to enter the country without mandatory hotel quarantine.
And late Thursday, CBC confirmed that Ottawa may be ready with at least an interim ‘vaccine passport’ solution in time for that “first week of JUL” timeline.
Phase 1: JUL
Like the border reopening itself, the government’s vaccine certification program is being planned in phases. Open Jaw has previously reported the Health Minister suggesting that Canada’s ‘vaccine passport’ would involve updates to its existing ArriveCan app.
Now CBC confirms that appears to be the case. Its unnamed government source told the broadcaster that a new feature on the app will go live in early JUL that “will allow travellers to take a photo or upload a snapshot of their vaccine documentation into the app before going through customs.”
Then, as ministers have said, in this interim phase, CBP officers will have the authority to determine if a Canadian arrival is entitled to skip hotel quarantine.
Phase 2: Fall, 2021
The report says the second phase of the vaccine passport will permit Canadian travellers to provide digital verification of their vaccination status to the federal government - not just a picture of a paper certificate.
That will have to involve the provinces. They will need to give Ottawa permission to access provincial databases where vaccination records are kept.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau reportedly met with the country’s premiers Thursday evening. They discussed border reopening issues, “and all the premiers agreed that being fully vaccinated was the key.”
The vaccine passport’s second phase will use the technology that’s currently employed for Canada’s e-passports, and is expected to be ready this fall.
According to the report, it will only accept proof of vaccination by one of the four vaccines currently certified by Health Canada. They include Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Johnson and Johnson.
