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Interprovincial Travel

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What's the word on the street regarding travelling amongst provinces? Is any anyone out there doing it/done it/will be doing it during this pandemic?
 

ali

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Met a few people in the past 6 months who've been heading east or west.

Last year was bad because a lot of VIA Rail wasn't running and neither were most of the bus companies. Greyhound used the pandemic as an excuse to pretty much tap out of Canada. The smaller bus companies started ramping back up in August/September and a reduced VIA service from Winnipeg to Vancouver apparently came back in December.

As of right now inter-province flights are still happening without any requirement to quarantine.

Driving/hitching across should still be fine too, but watch out if you have a license plate from another province. There have been a few stories of cars getting vandalized, although to be honest i doubt that's much different from the usual shit out-of-towners cop in rural and holiday destinations.

People are hopping freight no problem, that obviously bypasses any restrictions.

There has been some chatter about shutting down the western provinces, especially since it seems BC and even Alberta are flattening out the second wave, but nothing is confirmed yet.

This site suggests Maritimes and northern provinces are still checking travel documents on the roads: Provincial and territorial restrictions - Travel restrictions in Canada - Travel.gc.ca - https://travel.gc.ca/travel-covid/travel-restrictions/provinces. You can probably get across if you have some work waiting for you.

Apparently a few first nations and other indigenous communities aren't letting folks in at all, which fair enough since they're pretty small and vulnerable.

TLDR: travel between QC and BC should be fine for now, but things might change.
 
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Met a few people in the past 6 months who've been heading east or west.

Last year was bad because a lot of VIA Rail wasn't running and neither were most of the bus companies. Greyhound used the pandemic as an excuse to pretty much tap out of Canada. The smaller bus companies started ramping back up in August/September and a reduced VIA service from Winnipeg to Vancouver apparently came back in December.

As of right now inter-province flights are still happening without any requirement to quarantine.

Driving/hitching across should still be fine too, but watch out if you have a license plate from another province. There have been a few stories of cars getting vandalized, although to be honest i doubt that's much different from the usual shit out-of-towners cop in rural and holiday destinations.

People are hopping freight no problem, that obviously bypasses any restrictions.

There has been some chatter about shutting down the western provinces, especially since it seems BC and even Alberta are flattening out the second wave, but nothing is confirmed yet.

This site suggests Maritimes and northern provinces are still checking travel documents on the roads: Provincial and territorial restrictions - Travel restrictions in Canada - Travel.gc.ca - https://travel.gc.ca/travel-covid/travel-restrictions/provinces. You can probably get across if you have some work waiting for you.

Apparently a few first nations and other indigenous communities aren't letting folks in at all, which fair enough since they're pretty small and vulnerable.

TLDR: travel between QC and BC should be fine for now, but things might change.

This is such a Godsend you have answered the question I have wondering about for months now.
 
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ali

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Update on Canada, the Atlantic provinces will be opening up their bubble on April 19: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/atlantic-bubble-2-begin-mid-april-1.5954790

What that means is travel between all Atlantic provinces will be allowed without quarantine, although it seems you may still have to quarantine if you are coming from Québec and further west.

Western provinces and ON/QC still don't have any quarantine requirements unless you're coming from overseas.
 
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ali

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Okay folks, bad news. This third wave is causing the provincial governments to lock down hard.

Today Québec announced it's closing the border with Ontario: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/quebec-ontario-border-closed-1.5991552
Also Ontario is closing the border with both Québec and Manitoba: https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/coronavirus-covid19-canada-world-april16-2021-1.5990091

And a few days ago, the Atlantic provinces delayed opening their bubble till May 3: https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/nova-scotia/covid-19-update-april-13-bubble-delayed-1.5985112

What does this mean for us? Well seems like it's going back to similar how it was in early/mid 2020. If you have a job waiting, you might be able to get through in a vehicle, but otherwise you could get turned back at a checkpoint. Check out https://travel.gc.ca/travel-covid/travel-restrictions/provinces for the latest.

Best thing we can do if we're staying put is get vaccinated. Some provinces are vaccinating all ages now, and most of them are taking appointments for 45+. If you're indigenous or in a shelter, you probably qualify already. Check https://www.canada.ca/en/public-hea...disease-covid-19/vaccines/how-vaccinated.html for more.
 
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ali

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Updates keep getting worse for travelers. Today Horgan announced that here in BC there will be travel restrictions even inside the province. Of interest to rubber tramps: BC Ferries is no longer taking bookings for RVs. You might still be okay if you have a car or stealth van. The advice is that there should be no recreational travel at all until May 24. Camp sites and hotels/motels are being asked to not accept visitors from outside the local health authority. They're not officially closing the border with Alberta, but it seems non-essential travel is being greatly discouraged until we get through the third wave.
 
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ali

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Yeah, finally some light at the end of the tunnel! This week Ontario, Manitoba and Québec are reopening their interprovince borders, and BC is lifting its intraprovince travel restrictions. My guess is traveling across Canada will be more or less doable by Canada Day. Even if some communities still discourage travel, you will probably be able to talk yourself through any roadside checkpoint you may encounter.
 
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