Ottawa – The Association of Canadian Port Authorities (ACPA) has welcomed the Government of Canada’s announcement of a further relaxation of COVID-19 travel restrictions. Effective April 1, fully vaccinated travellers will no longer need to provide a pre-entry COVID-19 test result to enter Canada by air, land or water. This will ease the visitor experience for cruise passengers and make Canada’s cruise industry thrive once again.
“Prior to the pandemic, Canada’s cruise ports contributed $4.3 billion annually to the Canadian economy, supporting more than 30,000 Canadian jobs and boosting tourism incomes for businesses in communities all along Canada’s coasts,” said ACPA President and CEO Daniel-Robert Gooch. “Our Cruise Committee, which brings together ACPA members and other ports and tourism organizations that make up Canada’s cruise community, have worked extensively with the Government of Canada and tourism partners for the safe resumption of cruise in Canada to bring about today’s announcement. This is a very positive step towards a safe and successful resumption of cruise in Canada.”
Under the new requirements, cruise passengers will be required to take a rapid antigen test no more than a day prior to boarding, but they will no longer have to take any subsequent testing in advance of arriving in Canada. Other measures announced recently as part of the government-industry developed plan to safely resume cruise will remain.
“The safe resumption of cruise in Canada has been truly a collaborative effort,” said Andrew Dixon, Senior Vice President of Business Strategy and Innovation at Port Saint John and chair of ACPA’s Cruise Committee. “I would like to recognize the contributions of my colleagues at Canada’s cruise ports, our cruise community partners including the Tourism Association of Canada, the Cruise Lines International Association and Transport Canada for their respective roles in the safe resumption of our cruise industry that gets underway a few short weeks from now.”
ACPA’s Cruise Committee has worked with industry partners since 2021 on the safe, science-based resumption of cruise in Canada. The committee looks forward to further refinement of the measures, such as parity with the U.S. requirements that allow passengers to be tested within 48 hours of boarding. (Queen Mary2 at Québec photo by Louis Rhéaume)
