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By Phillip Maiani

"A Step In The Right Direction"

Easing of border restrictions great news for central Alberta travellers

Feb 16, 2022 | 2:19 PM

A central Alberta travel agent says the easing of restrictions set to take effect at Canada’s borders later this month are good news for the industry.

Babette Baskerville, independent travel agent with Rimbey-based Travel Vet, describes them as ‘baby steps’ but a step in the right direction.

“I would have loved to have seen the testing completely removed or minimum, have the quarantine decreased from 10 days to five days, but at least it’s a step in the right direction,” she concedes.

On Tuesday, the federal government announced it will ease restrictions on international travellers entering Canada. The relaxed measures will include randomized testing of vaccinated international travellers while also accepting a rapid antigen test instead of a molecular one.

Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos also said the government will be keeping a watchful eye on COVID-19 case numbers with the intent of dropping the requirements on coronavirus testing for Canadians who are only out of the country for less than 72 hours.

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The announcement comes as multiple provinces have begun to scale back provincial COVID-19 measures and is a welcome sight for the travel industry.

Baskerville says that business is picking up and that relaxed measures are allowing for more families to take an international vacation.

“The big thing is the kids don’t have to miss school for two weeks anymore so that was another positive. That was holding a lot of families back,” she explains.

As of Feb. 28, children under 12 years old who are travelling with fully vaccinated adults will continue to be exempt from a 14 day quarantine upon returning to Canada.

The majority of Baskerville’s clients have been taking off to Mexico because it does not have any restrictions for international travellers entering the country but with this latest announcement, she has taken a few bookings for Disney family vacations in the United States.

The Canadian government urges those who wish to travel to observe and follow all public health and travel guidelines and should regularly stay up to date on entry requirements and exemptions for their situation.