The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) budgeted millions for a vaccine passport program until fiscal 2024–2025, with a Department of Health memo saying the funding was needed to support federal public health measures “as needed going forward.”
“The expected result would be that Canadians have continued access to the Canadian COVID-19 proof of vaccination credentials to facilitate mobility in the context of international travel, including for ongoing proof of vaccination requirements at international borders,” the
memo dated March 23 said, as first reported by Blacklock’s Reporter.
According to the memo, PHAC budgeted $17.6 million “over three years starting in 2022-2023 to sustain the Canadian COVID-19 proof of vaccination credentials.“ It said the funding would allow the agency to ”provide continued proof of vaccination policy and program support to provinces and territories,“ as well as offer support in ”addressing fraudulent proof of vaccinations.”
It was released
after the feds
removed all COVID-19 entry restrictions, as well as proof of vaccination, testing, quarantine, and isolation requirements for anyone entering Canada, effective Oct. 1, 2022. In addition, effective June 20, 2022, federal orders that travellers and crew boarding or working on
aircraft and trains show proof of vaccination expired, as did a
vaccine mandate for federal employees expired on June 20, 2022.
While the World Health Organization on May 5, 2023, declared an
end to the COVID-19 global public health emergency, the Canadian Government Executive, a magazine for federal managers, wrote in a
2021 commentary that vaccine passports should be maintained even after the pandemic ran its course.
“After a rigorous analysis of the issue of immunity certificates this article concludes the necessity of immunity certificates in Canada as a key enabler for the safe reopening of the society and economy in a post-Covid world,” said the commentary titled “COVID-19 Immunity Certificates ‘Passports’ as an Intergovernmental Problem in Canada.”
The magazine said Canadians were divided on the issue of maintaining vaccine passports after the pandemic ended, and noted that the U.S. states of
Florida, Texas, and Arizona, among others, had either banned or prevented their mandatory use.
On Oct. 21, 2021, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told reporters that standardized proof of vaccination was intended as a convenience. “You can download it to your phone,“ he said, noting that ”it is a national standard for a proof of vaccination certificate that will be issued by every province and territory so that people can travel domestically, but particularly internationally.”
The Liberal Party’s 2021 election campaign platform,
Forward For Everyone, advocated enacting legislation “to ensure that every business and organization that decides to require proof of vaccination from employees and customers can do so without fear of a legal challenge.” No legislation was ever introduced.
