Thank you, Mr. Chair.
I have with me today Iain Stewart, who is the president of the Public Health Agency of Canada, and Associate Deputy Minister Harpreet Kochhar, who is the lead on this file.
From very early days, a very important part of Canada's COVID-19 containment strategy has been mandatory quarantine requirements. They're an essential part of our strategy.
Last month, the Government of Canada established additional border measures to quarantine international travellers arriving in Canada by land or air. As of February 22, travellers arriving by air are required to stay in government-authorized accommodation for up to three nights while they await the results of the COVID-19 molecular test they take on arrival.
These accommodations are different from the designated quarantine facilities, which are operated by the Public Health Agency of Canada and are generally used to accommodate symptomatic travellers or those without an appropriate location to quarantine themselves.
The requirement to stay in a government-authorized accommodation or at a designated quarantine facility is an important public health measure, and it is an important component of protecting Canadians from the importation of COVID-19 and the variants.
Our experts and scientists constantly and carefully monitor COVID-19 outbreaks across Canada and indeed the world. We understand the risks, and we're taking this situation seriously. Every public health measure that we have taken is an important approach to protect Canadians from the virus.
Protecting the health and safety of Canadians has been our top priority as we continue to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, and the Government of Canada has established strict quarantine and travel measures to reduce the importation and spread of COVID-19, and recently the introduction of variants into our country.
We know the virus is changing and shifting. It's very important for our country to be able to monitor how that virus is changing and what additional threat it poses to Canadians. Canada's mandatory quarantine program is an essential part of our COVID-19 strategy.
Canadians have made important sacrifices to tackle COVID-19, including curtailing international travel. We are receiving more vaccines every day, and that is good news. We are at a critical inflection point in our fight against COVID-19, and we need to keep following public health measures and remain vigilant.
The Public Health Agency of Canada has federal employees on site and has increased the number of security personnel at designated quarantine facilities to help provide a safe and secure environment. We are in daily contact to support our partners in delivering the mandatory quarantine sites.
For that reason, Mr. Chair and honourable members, this is not the time to suspend federally mandated quarantine measures.
I want to thank Canadians for the incredible sacrifices they have been making to protect each other from COVID-19, including curtailing non-essential travel.
Thank you very much, Mr. Chair.