British Columbians will require two vaccine cards if they want to travel — the BC card to enter non-essential businesses and the national level card for domestic and international travel.
The Trudeau government announced Thursday morning the launch of a standard federal proof of COVID-19 vaccination system at which Premier John Horgan acknowledged the rollout later that afternoon.
The Premier acknowledged the potential for “confusion” in British Columbia.
“If you want to travel internationally or on federally regulated modes of transportation you are going to need to have a separate card,” Horgan said.
“You can do that by reviewing the information being provided by the federal government. We will look at how we can bring the two together.”
Starting on November 30th, Canadians will need to show a federal vaccine passport to travel in and out of the country.
Between now and then, the BC vaccine card, according to the Premier, will suffice.
“We are hopefully going to clarify issues in the days ahead,” Horgan said.
“I know the BC card will be acceptable for a period of time. It does create confusion for people anxious to travel.”
In Trudeau’s conference this morning he said that each province, including British Columbia, agreed to conform to a national standard of proof-of-vaccine documents.
Also in the conference, Premier Horgan criticized new travel rules that require Canadian travellers to produce a negative COVID-19 test upon returning to the country.
The Premier took aim at how old PCR tests can be used to re-enter Canada.
“I find the notion that I can get a test in Vancouver, travel to the United States and return back to Canada counter to the whole point,” Horgan said.
Last week, the US announced it will open its borders to fully-immunized travellers by air, land or passenger ferry starting November 8th with air travellers still required to produce a negative COVID-19 test.
