Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Good afternoon. It's a pleasure to be here.
I'm Aaron McCrorie, the associate assistant deputy minister for safety and security at Transport Canada.
Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, guided by the latest public health advice, Transport Canada has worked hard to respond quickly to ensure that Canadians remain safe while supporting the ongoing flow of critical goods and services across the country.
To reduce the risk of transmission of COVID throughout the aviation sector, Transport Canada has worked with partner departments, public health authorities, provinces and territories and the transportation industry to implement a system of layered measures, guidance, and requirements to ensure that transportation operations are safe for workers and passengers.
These include health screening measures and temperature checks to prevent symptomatic passengers from boarding flights to, from and within Canada. Workers at the 15 busiest airports in Canada are also subject to temperature checks before entering restricted areas. In addition, passengers on all flights departing or arriving at Canadian airports must have an appropriate mask or face covering when going through security checkpoints, when boarding and deplaning and on board the aircraft. These requirements also apply to some air crew members and airport workers.
The department also issued a notice restricting most overseas flights to landing at four airports in Canada: Montreal-Trudeau, Toronto-Pearson, Calgary, and Vancouver. This was done to support the work of health authorities to conduct medical assessments of symptomatic passengers and to notify passengers of the need to self-isolate for a period of 14 days. Transport Canada acted quickly to protect Canadians and air travel passengers to reduce the risk of transmission on an aircraft and the risk of importation. Making sure air travel is safe is a key factor in supporting the recovery of the air sector.
On August 14, Transport Canada released “Canada's Flight Plan for Navigating COVID-19”. This document is the foundation for aligning Canada's current and future efforts to address the safety impacts of COVID-19 on the aviation sector and was developed in close collaboration with industry partners. It demonstrates to Canadians the extensive and multi-layered system of measures that have been implemented to support public health, including temperature checks, health checks and face coverings as well as measures implemented by industry such as increased cleaning and disinfecting protocols, enhanced air conditioning and filtration systems and new protocols to encourage physical distancing.
Canada's flight plan is based on the comprehensive standards and recommendations from the International Civil Aviation Organization's Council Aviation Recovery Task Force, or CART, in order to ensure that Canada is aligned with the gold standard of international best practices. This document will be refined as we continue to learn more about COVID-19 and as guidance and public health measures evolve at the local, provincial, national and international levels.
Preventing the spread of the pandemic has been and remains the top priority of the government. The various regulatory requirements that were put in place will likely remain for the foreseeable future; however, there is room for adjustment to support the restart of the air sector. Transport Canada will actively assess orders that have been issued to see what can be done and will be consulting with industry on possible amendments as we move forward.
The department is also working closely with other federal departments to explore risk-based opportunities that will allow Canada to ease travel restrictions and reopen our borders. This includes implementing a sustainable approach to reducing public health risks today and building resilience to safeguard the system against similar risks in the future. For example, by leveraging opportunities for safe, contactless processing of passengers, these approaches will help rebuild public confidence in the safety of air travel.
Health Canada and the Public Health Agency of Canada, working with other key federal departments such as Global Affairs Canada, Transport Canada and the Canadian Border Services Agency, are responsible for making decisions related to the lifting of travel and quarantine restrictions. Presently, testing pilot projects are under way or in development across Canada to establish a good base of evidence for possible reduction of quarantine requirements. For example, Air Canada and the Greater Toronto Airports Authority, in partnership with McMaster University, launched a testing project in September focused on testing passengers arriving in Canada.
The Public Health Agency of Canada, in partnership with the Province of Alberta, launched a testing project in November for passengers and workers arriving by land at Coutts border crossing and by air at the Calgary International Airport.