The number of international arrivals to Canada has sharply increased in December 2021 when compared to the same month in 2020.
As reported by Statistics Canada, Canadian airports welcomed more than 10 times as many foreign visitors in December 2021 as they did in December 2020. In addition, there were also nearly eight times as many Canadians returning from abroad as there were in December 2020.
However, both international arrivals and the share of returned Canadians were lower than before the pre- pandemic. As of December 2021, Canada's borders were open to all fully vaccinated non-resident travellers, with international flights permitted to land at 18 Canadian airports. Since early November 2021, the US land border has been open to all fully vaccinated Canadians.
The World Health Organization also declared a new variant of concern, Omicron, in late November 2021, causing Canada to impose new travel restrictions. The government of Canada advised Canadians on December 15, 2021 not to travel outside the country unless it is absolutely necessary. However, the requirement for all travellers entering Canada to undergo a negative molecular test became effective on December 21.
There were 742,400 Canadians who flew back to Canada. This was an upward trend compared to 93,800 in December 2020.