Holidaying from UK to BC
 

Apologies if this is in the wrong thread, or been asked many times before.

In a previous thread I had asked about moving to BC. Of course, having never been to that part of Canada before a holiday there would help gather information and a feel for if the place is right.

Have there been any indications as to when Canada/BC is likely to accept holidaymakers from the UK? We would be looking forward to a time when no quarantine would be imposed on new arrivals. Has there been any news on this, or is it likely to all be relaxed within 2020?

Re: Holidaying from UK to BC
 

no, no news but BC has been very strict about the quarantine so I’m not expecting it to be relaxed anytime soon.

We will likely enter stage 3 this/next week in which the BC government will remove the advisory against travel within the province, we are being encouraged to vacation within BC this year to help the tourism industry which I take as a sign the quarantine will last all summer.

The original plan was stage 4 (large gatherings and international travel) would go ahead when there is a vaccine, wide spread community immunity or effective therapeutic treatment. That of course is a how long is a piece of string in terms of time frame and indeed may never actual happen so may need to be walked back at some point.

my own feeling is sometime in fall

Re: Holidaying from UK to BC
 

Thank you. We wouldn't be looking sooner than 6 months' time at fhe very least. Will just keep an eye on things then!

Re: Holidaying from UK to BC
 

I shouldn't be in any hurry!!

First, Trudeau has announced today that Canada will be in no hurry to re-open the borders to international travel, despite pressure from businesses, because the pandemic is still accelerating according to WHO, and we're certainly seeeing that in the US and other countries (including the UK?).

https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/with...lans-1.4994819

Second, the US - Canada border is still closed to all non-essential travel until July 21st, and that is, I think, almost certain to continue if things don't change below the line.

Third, the provinces have a lot of power, including the ability to close their borders and to insist on 14-day quarantine, even if the Feds have opened them. BC was one that did that at the very beginning, as did NB and NS.

BC was insisting on the 14-day quarantine, and putting international travellers into hotels even before the Feds were up to par with port of entry checks. NS was insisting on 14 day quarantine from as early as March 18th.

So you have to watch out for both Federal and Provincial regulations.

In addition to all that ............ cities and municipalities, First Nations, etc can all set their own guidelines. There are still places that are not happy that BC visitors will be able to travel around the province very soon.


Not that we don't want you .............. just not too soon!

Re: Holidaying from UK to BC
 

Sometime in 2021 would be my guess for quarantine-free arrivals to BC. They won't risk a surge in infections, particularly if the province is (mostly) back to normal.

Re: Holidaying from UK to BC
 

Also to consider is if/when a 2nd wave begins and seeing as how the UK did such a stellar job on the 1st outbreak then if the UK becomes another hotspot then it might be longer than you think before we allow Brits to visit us.

Re: Holidaying from UK to BC
 

I had an interesting discussion with the receptionist at my doctor's office last week ......... ahe said that they were looking to have 2 months of quiet after the last hectic months, before having to face "is it a cold, or flu, or covid-19". That seems to imply that doctors are preparing themselves for a possible second wave coming as early as September, though later might also be likely.

I've booked my tickets for across the country train travel for Christmas, so will just keep my fingers crossed! We're obviously not going to go if a covid outbreak means having to go into 14 day quarantine in Toronto, Montreal or Halifax!

Re: Holidaying from UK to BC
 

It's not accelerating in the UK, quite the opposite, 22 deaths yesterday - down from over 1000. From the 4th July cinemas and museums will open and pubs are expected soon after. It has also been said that the 14 day quaranteen won't be arround much longer.

Re: Holidaying from UK to BC
 

Surely that's why travelers from the UK will not be welcome. The view from here is that the government is opening the economy in the UK, and in the US, accepting a high rate of infection. We don't want that high rate of infection here.

Re: Holidaying from UK to BC
 

Although questionably despite huge protests, and thousands of people at the beaches 3 - 4 weeks ago and we haven't seen a spike in cases.

Key issue for holidays is whether there will be a second wave come weather change (be that UK/Canada) and whether borders are opened before then - which is something I have my doubts about. Although no doubt there is currently some political dance going on in that Trudeau keeping the US/Canada border shut but opening Canada to the rest of the world would cause some sort of huge backlash from Trump et all. But America seems to be doing worse than ever currently.

Re: Holidaying from UK to BC
 

Could it be that the UK government's gung ho way of handling things has actually given us, to some degeee at least what was their original desired outcome ie herd imunity which may explain the now massively reduced infection rate and the lack of a spike?

Re: Holidaying from UK to BC
 

Protests, outdoors, in masks, like life in Canada. Florida, shops and restaurants open, like life as proposed by Boris. Protests, no spike. Florida, lots of spike.

Brits were allowed into New Zealand and we know how that went..

Mad cow, Covid, perhaps Brexit does have some merit, keep the lepers on their island.

Re: Holidaying from UK to BC
 

Light blue touch paper - and retire..... :popcorn:

Re: Holidaying from UK to BC
 

:goodpost::scarper:

Re: Holidaying from UK to BC
 

I'm not sure the media you've seen may be different, but I honestly cant believe given the numbers there hasn't been a spike, whilst most if not all of the protests outside in the UK it was very much thousands of people in a very cramped area. One would assume the next few weeks will prove one way or the other whether the UK has opened too soon or not.

One major thing will be the sensibility of the diners, limited numbers of people going and eating well spaced out outside, with even fewer inside, not mixing outside their table bubble, not going if they feel unwell etc. as opposed to everyone getting drunk, forgetting about social distancing and then pushing tables together etc. - but given the current trend of common sense in Britain, I expect we will go for the latter!

The question is whether this actually ends in the foreseeable or whether there is always a risk of it being brought into the country from a country that has a steady (which is where I think the UK sits) stream of cases - if so should the UK (or any other high risk country) really expect any sort of international travel for the next 2-3 years?

But then every locked down country that opens back up and handled it successfully is only ever 1 flight away from disaster with either quarantine stopped, or someone not obeying quarantine when entering the country.

Re: Holidaying from UK to BC
 

I think we will be finding out in 2-4 weeks time how successful each country has been in their attempts to control covid-19 and to emerge from lock down.

Remembering that some countries are different for others in that some have central control from the central government, while in other countries, the individual provinces and states have much more control over their own situations and can even over-ride the central (federal) government in a lot of areas.

Think Canada, the US and Australia.

It seems to be that the overwhelming opinion of the UK is that Boris and the rest dropped the ball right from the get go .......... they were dismissing the importance of the virus, just as the US was doing, while not really paying attention to what was happening.

It would have been easy for the UK government to have closed their borders to all non-essential traffic, just as New Zealand did, but also as several countries in the European zone shut down. Instead they were allowing in thousands upon thousands of visitors into the country without checking or quarantine, just let them wander wherever, no care that they were coming in from countries in the midst of a virulent outbreak.

It might have led to the herd immunity that Boris and his advisors were promoting, but most other countries went a different route ............... which means WE do not have herd immunity.

I can tell you that after isolating since March 18, with only very brief excursions out of the house beginning after 6 weeks, so I have had 6 weeks complete isolation and 8 weeks of semi-isolation .......... I shall not be at all happy if an incomer brings covid-19 into my community and we have a major outbreak.

Re: Holidaying from UK to BC
 

I think some on here are missing the point. Countries cannot be shutdown forever, especially ones that are heavily reliant on immigrants and tourists coming into the country, like Canada. Until a vaccine or suppressive drugs are available, it will come down to how effective your local authorities are at dealing with new cases in the form of tracking, testing and localized isolation. It will have to come to that our else the problems caused by shutting down will out-weigh the ones caused by Covid19. That is what most developed countries are starting to rely on now as they get to a point where they are prepared for localized outbreaks.

The UK has been letting foreign nationals into the country and not closed the boarders, true. They have also carried out double the amount of tests per 1m people than Canada. They also include fairly reliable death figures and include deaths from outside of hospital, not many other countries do - not sure about Canada but sounds like their reporting of deaths is unreliable and slow at best. Despite this, the UK is now on a similar trajectory to Canada in new cases and deaths. The daily numbers themselves are still a bit higher in the UK, but again, the above reasons will go some way to explaining this. Considering the UK has double the population in a fraction of the land mass, with a far more intricate public transport network - I am not sure if Canadians can sit there and point fingers and say how badly the UK are doing - especially when you look at figures in built up areas like Toronto and Montreal - and neither have done well when it comes to care homes. There will be pros and cons of how both have handled things.

However now more than ever what with Covid19 and the state of the oil sands, Canada needs us islanders (you know, the founders of Canada) to come into the country as quickly and as numerous as possible.

To answer the OP - Canada should start easing restrictions once their track, trace and isolate procedures are in place, which should (hopefully) be in the next month or 2. Canadians should be praying for that, as if not, to close boarders for a whole summer will be a disaster for the tourism, airline & hospitality industries and the Canadian economy as a whole.

Lets all hope for some more positive times ahead, eh.

Re: Holidaying from UK to BC
 

It's borders, ffs.

Why does Canada need people from the UK? In ordinary times it's open to receiving people from the UK, same as from anywhere else, but doesn't need them more or less than people from anywhere else. What's the case for needing them now?

Re: Holidaying from UK to BC
 

It is easy politics to close the border and blame the problem on ‘foreigners’.

Re: Holidaying from UK to BC
 

Everyone loves the spelling police.

Why not from the UK? Think I made it pretty clear in my post. Canada needs people from all countries, that have the virus under control, coming in, including the UK. Because of (see post previous post again). For one picking out spelling mistakes, you didn't let the subject matter sink in very well did you?

Re: Holidaying from UK to BC
 

Ah, so the suggestion is that Canada needs people from safe countries and that the UK is safe. That's not an argument for letting in people from the UK but for ranking countries by infection rate and admitting people from the countries with fewer infections; New Zealand, South Korea and so on. If Canada were to admit people solely based on economic benefit America would be first. The UK is neither a particularly important trading partner nor a particular safe country; if there's to be selection by nationality it's not an ideal candidate.

Of course one can make a compassionate case that the victims of Brexit will have to go somewhere and, if thoroughly tested and able to pass IELTS, could be admitted as refugees.

Re: Holidaying from UK to BC
 

Yes and yes. I didn't mention anything about the most economic benefit. Again, you need to read my original post. The point was that even with a more relaxed approach to foreigners coming in, the UK is doing just as well as Canada (you can give and take somethings both countries to better/worse for but the rates of new infections/deaths are both similar and controlled in both countries). The holier than thou posts earlier are baffling.

The effects of continuing with such strict measures will do you a lot more harm, and simply, without the likes of people from the UK (and other countries, to be crystal clear) coming in soon, the impact will be far and wide-ranging (more so than they already are). Therefore, Canada (and other countries) need to put the measures in place to allow that to happen with testing, tracing, isolating where appropriate and open up internationally. Some countries are now doing this, are able to benefit from international travel and take action if infections are reported. And so far it has been working. Canada needs to do this asap.

Oh, and the UK is Canada's third largest trade partner - not that this has anything to do with the economic benefits tourists or the people immigrating from the UK bring. You obviously have no concept of what is happening to the tourism, airline and hospitality industries in Canada, and elsewhere, at the moment. Which, yes, does have an impact on the economy as a whole.

The amount of tourists coming from the UK is second only to the USA. So yeah, I would say you need us. Especially if the land border with Canada's biggest economic contributor remains closed, you will need all the help you can get.

Re: Holidaying from UK to BC
 

Because some of us are bloody sick to the back teeth of listening to whingeing Brits who have just arrived in Canada constantly complaining and comparing the 2 x countries. Statements like Anyone know where you can get Walkers crisps in Regina, I haven't seen any Robinsons Squash in Calgary, Cell phone plans are ridiculous in Kelowna, They just quoted me $5,000 a year for car insurance in Toronto, The Canadian banking system sucks (all over), How do you get Sky TV and the bloody list goes on and on and on.
Just because we speak a similar language, have towns and cities named the same, have the Queen as our Head of State and still part of the Commonwealth it does mean everything is the same as living in Pontefract. And if you come from Pontefract that's even worse as you are living in Yorkshire which should be reason enough to ban you from ever living or visiting here.

Re: Holidaying from UK to BC
 

All highly personal and not a good reason to influence government policy i'm afraid. Says more about your view of the world more than anything else, being so upset about incidental things. Please refer to previous thread which points out real reasons why Canada needs tourists and immigrants from the UK. And I don't live in Yorkshire...<snipped>

Re: Holidaying from UK to BC
 

Fact check.

The original settlers in Canada were French The Brits came much later and imposed themselves (thankfully so IMHO) in the seven years war.

If you are referring to the act of confederation in 1867, that was a hurried and crude 'sod off, we cant afford you as a colony anymore' act by the British.

Re: Holidaying from UK to BC
 

Ha, true. Should have been clearer. I was meaning the UK immigrants responsible for founding a lot of the Canadian companies and institutions that helped form the country and how it looks today (primarily Scots and Irish).

Re: Holidaying from UK to BC
 

I think given the second part of FLs name the last bit about Yorkshire was a little joke. Maybe not and the wars of the roses still has a deep impact for FL but more likely a joke

Re: Holidaying from UK to BC
 

:rofl: And there is me thinking that a Brit might understand sarcasm in such a post and according to my computer I was using the sarcasm font there again I could have used this :sarcasm:

Re: Holidaying from UK to BC
 

I did consider that but whatever it was, it was still a strange thing to say. Hopefully the whole post was a joke.

Re: Holidaying from UK to BC
 

Oh so your other posts were sarcastic as well. That makes more sense. As were the posts from dbd33, gottcha. I have an idea - lets just from now on write all sarcastic responses to posts - I think that will be great, as tone and expression really comes across well from behind a keyboard. SO helpful you figure out what emojis are for :sarcasm: ;) :britflag: :thumbsup:

Re: Holidaying from UK to BC
 

In the interests of fairness, I will admit that the Brits did Canada a big favour in the war of 1812, otherwise we would all be Americans! :)

Re: Holidaying from UK to BC
 

Yeah but I guess in 1755 to 1764 the Acadians weren't too happy with the Brits.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Expulsion_of_the_Acadians

Re: Holidaying from UK to BC
 

I think Canada can afford to wait before opening up and I think it will. Once the situation in the US is more stable then I expect controls at that border will be relaxed and other borders will follow. Some of this may happen as soon as this autumn but I wouldn't expect significant immigration from the UK this year; if nothing else the climate of employment has changed so that those who would be attractive immigrants can now just as well work remotely from where they are. Not bus boys, obviously, but Canadians can do that sort of work.

Re: Holidaying from UK to BC
 

Canada doesn't need people from the UK necessarily, they invite a chosen few to join us here... :p

My son used to play a game called "Plague" - He said the only way a country could ensure they didn't become infected was to close their borders.. and thus the game beat the player.. life immitating art, indeed. :)

Re: Holidaying from UK to BC
 

Are you kidding? Whether it chooses to open up or not, Canada cannot afford to wait for long. Doing so will costs billions of dollars and jobs. The Canadian economy is built on a continuing flow of immigrants, tourists and a sustainable oil industry. As they don't have any of those at the moment, Canada cannot afford jack-.

At this moment in time, the restrictions for foreign travel and quarantine are due to be lifted 30th June, the border to the US 21st July. Everything else is just guesswork at the end of the day. Your premonitions may well turn out to be true but ultimately your opinions and what you think are meaningless.

Re: Holidaying from UK to BC
 

Ugh, as made clear in a further post. You do - you need us as well as the immigrants from other countries to grow your economy and visit as tourists. You need Americans more, but maybe correctly, as it stands they are not controlling the virus as well and for now the borders remain shut. Other countries have done better.

Both with this and the computer game example, it doesn't take into account the economy. Especially when considered with the use of measures helping to control any outbreaks. You simply cannot afford to close the borders until the virus is not present in the world anymore. Outbreaks will happen until a vaccine is available - which could be next year it sounds like. If it goes on too much longer the economic fallout, unemployment rate, poverty etc etc will outweigh the effects of the virus.

Re: Holidaying from UK to BC
 

It's all over for the tar sands, nothing to do with Covid-19. That was never going to be any more sustainable than the cod fishery. There were quite a few posters connected with that industry in its era but they've moved on.

Re: Holidaying from UK to BC
 

Didn't say it was.

Re: Holidaying from UK to BC
 

Correct me if I am not mistaken but you have applied for PR status in Canada with a common law wife and have received an ITA. Great you are applying to come to Canada and have been accepted. Now as we elect a democratic Government and employ many professional experts in their fields these are the people who advise the powers that be to make decisions on the country and protect those who currently live in Canada. I have no idea what your expertise is but as you are not in a position to dictate what is currently happening/ should be happening then unfortunately it is what it is regardless if you agree or not on how our Government is currently managing this pandemic. Currently with no vaccine available and remember after 30 years plus no vaccine has been found for HIV.

Re: Holidaying from UK to BC
 

I don't think anyone is arguing for that. It's just that the current UK government isn't very good at public health. Perhaps you could elect a different one, clean things up there and then see if you're any more attractive as visitors.