The standardized certificate will include a QR code to be scanned at airports, train stations and other entry points.
Canada is launching a standardized COVID-19 vaccine passport to make it easier for citizens to travel abroad, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced.
The digital document revealed on Thursday will feature a QR code to be scanned at airports, train stations and other entry points.
“As Canadians look to start traveling again, there will be a standardized proof of vaccination certificate,” Trudeau said, urging Canadians who have not yet done so to get vaccinated as soon as possible. “We can end this pandemic and get back to the things we love. “
The proof of vaccination certificate will carry a Canadian identification mark and meet major international health card chip standards, government officials said.
It will include a person’s name, date of birth, and COVID-19 vaccination history, including the doses a person received and when they were inoculated.
More than 73 percent of Canadians are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to Our World in Data, a monitoring group based at the University of Oxford.
Canadians will not be able to board a plane for a trip abroad or at home without a certificate of proof of vaccination as of November 30, the Toronto Star newspaper reported.
Currently, Canadians can travel using a photo or copy of a vaccination certificate issued by a province. Not all of them have a QR code.
The national government will pay for the rollout of the standardized vaccination passport, Trudeau said. “We will take the note. “
Some provinces, including Saskatchewan, Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, and the three northern territories, have already started using the national standard for a proof of vaccination certificate, a Trudeau said.
“You are now able to immediately show proof of vaccination in all of these provinces,” Trudeau said. “You can download it to your phone, you can print it, you can request a copy by mail if you don’t have those capabilities, but you can now show proof of vaccination immediately in all of those provinces, and all of them. other provinces have accepted and are working hard to connect.
In Canada, health care is largely provided by provincial governments and primarily funded by the national government, sometimes resulting in political disputes over jurisdiction and over who pays for what.
Trudeau was re-elected prime minister for a third term last month, but he heads a minority government that needs the support of other parties to pass legislation.
Canadian officials are in talks with other countries popular with Canadian travelers to brief them on the new certification standard, officials told Reuters.
“Numerous [countries] said they wanted to see digital… verifiable proof of vaccination, which we provide, ”said a Canadian official.
Canada recently reopened its borders to international travelers who have proof of vaccination, and has waived quarantine requirements for returning Canadian travelers who can prove they are immune.
The land border between Canada and the United States will reopen to fully vaccinated travelers taking non-essential travel on November 8.
Following the announcement of Trudeau’s vaccine passport, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance Chrystia Freeland said Canada had recovered “100% of the jobs lost at the height of the recession, compared to 78% in the United States. United “.
“There are many reasons to be optimistic about what we have already achieved. Our economy is rebounding and we are winning the fight against COVID, ”said Freeland, standing on the same podium as Trudeau.
Many credits, loans, grants and other special programs to support businesses and workers launched during the first wave of COVID-19 will end on October 23, Freeland said.
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