Travellers will be required to wear masks, face coverings at Canadian airports starting Monday

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – If you’ll be flying anywhere, don’t forget to pack your face mask.

Starting Monday, people flying to or from Canadian airports will need something to cover their mouth and nose with while travelling.

The measure is one of the latest to be introduced in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19.

On Friday, Canada’s Minister of Transport said anyone who is unable to demonstrate they have a necessary non-medical mask or face covering during the boarding process will not be allowed to continue on their journey.

Travellers will only have to wear the masks when they have to be close to other people, like at security checkpoints, when they can’t physically distance themselves from others, or if planes are full or otherwise crowded. A person will also have to wear the mask if they are ordered to do so by a public health order.

Masks and other face coverings are also being encouraged for passengers travelling by other means, such as by train, boats, ferries, and buses, however, they are not mandatory at this point.

Meanwhile, all international travellers are currently required to prove they have an adequate isolation plan upon their arrival to Canada.

The measure was announced earlier this week, on Tuesday, and gives authorities the ability to decide whether a person’s self-isolation plan is adequate or not.

“For example, if your plan is to go stay in a place where there are many elderly family members at risk of COVID-19, or whether they don’t have a set destination,” Prime Minister Justin Trudeau explained. “If they’ve been outside of the country for many years, we now have the authority to require them to self-isolate for two weeks in a quarantine location, like a hotel.”

The B.C. government announced a similar requirement earlier this month for international travellers arriving in the province.

-With files from Mike Hall and The Canadian Press

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