Feds remove special travel requirements for travellers coming from India, Morocco

Special COVID-19-related entry requirements and information for flights coming from India and Morocco into Canada have been removed, a federal public health spokesperson has confirmed.

The updates, effective Jan. 28, remove the last of the special requirements for the two countries in what began as flight bans last year. Ottawa suspended direct flights from India in April 2021 and Morocco in August 2021 due to rising COVID-19 cases in those countries at the time. The ban was lifted for India in September, and October for Morocco.

Information that included requirements for a pre-departure negative molecular test result from an airport lab that had to be performed within 18 hours of departure was removed on the travel page for India on Thursday evening.

The standard requirement for entry into Canada is a molecular test taken within 72 hours of departure.

Information for travel from Morocco that included a pre-departure negative molecular test documented in a test certificate issued by the Government of Morocco and recognized by the European Commission was also removed for that country on Thursday evening.

In a statement emailed to CTVNews.ca, a spokesperson for the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) said recent rates of positivity among travellers from the India and Morocco have been similar to or lower than those of other travellers.

"Based on this assessment, there is no longer a rationale to apply enhanced pre-entry test requirements to these countries," PHAC spokesperson Mark Johnson said.

The federal government still advises against non-essential travel outside of the country, a recommendation that has been in place since Dec. 15, 2021.