Questions raised about value of random COVID-19 tests for travellers

OTTAWA — Infectious disease experts are at odds over how valuable it is to randomly test travellers arriving in Canada for COVID-19, as the federal government relaunched its mandatory testing program. 

The government put a pause on random testing at airports in June as long customs delays caused chaos at Canada’s airports, but relaunched the program on Tuesday at four major airports: Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver and Montreal.

Randomly selected air travellers at those airports must now report to off-site locations to be tested for COVID-19 or pick up a self-swab kit.

Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam has called the tests an “early warning system” for new variants of COVID-19 as they enter Canada.