OTTAWA – A ban on non-essential travel by foreign nationals to Canada is still under consideration by the federal government, the Star has learned.

The idea of ​​closing Canada’s borders to non-essential traffic in the face of the emergence of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 was among four options the federal cabinet considered on Tuesday morning that sparked objections around the table in the United States. cabinet, according to sources. These options were also presented to the premiers later during a teleconference with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau that evening.

The ban was almost ready to roll out until the pushback gave the prime minister a break to reconsider, multiple sources told The Star.

However, that is not excluded, said five senior federal sources with knowledge of the matter.

“Honestly, everything is under review,” said a senior federal government source, speaking only on substance. “The UK is facing huge numbers. Omicron’s numbers double every two or three days around the world.

If the numbers in Canada continue to rise, insiders said, the government should take further action.

Mind-blowing omicron spikes in countries like Norway and Denmark have alarmed public health authorities here.

Dr Theresa Tam said on Friday that so far the number of Omicron cases reported in Canada has been low, at around 350, but the average number of new COVID-19 infections – 5,000 per day during the last week – continues to increase, driven by the Delta variant.

The Delta variant accounts for 97% of reported cases in Canada today, while the Omicron represents about 2%. Tam said, however, that this was probably “just the tip of the iceberg”.

The Star reported earlier this week that the federal government is weighing the idea of ​​a ban on foreign nationals other than essential workers, which would have prevented travelers, including those from the United States, from entering Canada at all points of entry, including land and air, as well as stepped up border testing and quarantine measures for arrivals, including the reinstatement of mandatory PCR testing, regardless of the length of travel outside the country. Canada. This last measure was reintroduced on Friday.

But even with a series of exemptions – which would have included Canadians, permanent residents, their dependents, refugees and those entering under a family reunification permit who would have had a right of entry – the ministers Cabinet were deeply divided over the need to take such a dramatic step. Most of the prime ministers also backed down, said the sources, who were granted anonymity in order to speak freely about the talks.

Many ministers believe there are enough layers of protection here. They argue that the importation of Omicron can be controlled as long as Canada can ensure that only fully vaccinated people arrive with negative pre-departure molecular testing (or PCR) in hand, and that inbound non-essential travelers are subject to mandatory random testing and self-isolation on arrival while awaiting another negative test result.

A provincial source who was on the call of the premiers said Trudeau told them the federal government wanted to take action to reduce the number of people entering Canada at the border, but did not explicitly say it would stop non-essential travel for foreign nationals, including the United States – an option the source called drastic, given that there is already community transmission of omicron in Canada.

However, a federal government source said Trudeau had discussed it along with other measures, and a majority of prime ministers strongly opposed the idea of ​​reimposing stricter quarantine measures and the ban on foreign nationals.

The prime minister was partly persuaded by this provincial opposition and the judgment of many in his own cabinet that a ban on entry of foreign nationals would be too broad and too draconian for now, the insider said.

The Trudeau government is also aware of the social and economic impact of border closures during the first three waves of the pandemic, before vaccination rates were high, federal sources said.

Omicron already circulates in 11 provinces and territories. Due to the variant’s high transmissibility, even though it turns out not to cause serious illness, it could still be a greater threat, five of the federal sources said.

“Even though it is a lighter variant than Delta, if the spread is much faster … if the volume of infected people is much greater, although it is a small percentage that ends up in the hospital. , it’s always a lot, “said one of them. of these initiates.

Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said on Friday that after stepping up their efforts over the past two weeks, federal authorities are “on the verge” of meeting the target of being able to perform 23,000 PCR tests. per day at Canadian airports, a number estimated by Canada Border Services. would cover all arrivals at the airport except those from the United States.

Duclos said that while Canada is also expanding its testing capacity at the land border with the United States, “on a per capita basis, the United States officially has about 10 times fewer Omicron cases than Canada. Denmark has 100 times more Omicron cases per capita than Canada, so the ratios are very different. “

So, on Wednesday, Duclos announced that Ottawa was modifying, for now, its travel advisory for Canadians going abroad, warning them against non-essential travel. On Friday, he relaunched the mandatory PCR test for inbound travelers going abroad indefinitely, and he lifted the entry ban for travelers who have passed through 10 listed African countries. Duclos said he was ditched because he had achieved his original goal – to buy time.

But Duclos warned the situation was so fluid that Canadians could expect further action if things got worse.

“Things will continue to adjust,” he said. “I believe Canadians have seen how quickly evolution can change around Omicron and Canadians have understood that Canadians and governments have a responsibility to adapt to these changes as they occur.”

A second provincial source told The Star that premiers like Doug Ford wanted Ottawa to procure and provide faster antigen testing – although the federal government says it has already sent more than $ 80 million to the provinces, including less than 16 million were reported as used.

Many of those millions of rapid tests will expire in February, a federal source said, so pressure is on to get them out.

Ottawa is also bringing in millions of doses of additional vaccine to meet demand for recalls from Omicron.

The office of Supply Minister Filomena Tassi said on Friday that Canada currently has 22 million doses of the vaccine, enough to cover the number of eligible Canadians aged 18 and over who have yet to receive a booster. . About 3.9 million have already received a third dose.

Tassi’s office expects more vaccines to be delivered over the next six weeks, and Canada will have enough on hand by the end of January to meet expected demand if and when the cohort of 12 at 18 is NACI approved for boosters.