IAIA22

MONITORING COVID-19 DEVELOPMENT

 

Because the health and safety of our attendees, exhibitors, sponsors, and staff is our top priority, IAIA and the local IAIA22 organizing team continue to monitor COVID-19 developments as well as the health policies and recommendations in Vancouver and British Columbia. We are planning to hold IAIA22 in person as planned, and we will work with the conference venue to take extra safety precautions as needed. If anything changes warranting a re-evaluation, we assure you we will assess, address, and respond to the new situation. Any updates will be listed below as they become available.

 

IAIA has received the following updates and information from Destination Vancouver and the Government of Canada.

 

Effective March 11, 2022:

  • Face coverings will be optional for people in all indoor public settings.
    • Individual businesses and organizations can choose to continue to require mask wearing on their premises.  
  • Indoor common area mask requirements for employees as part of the Workplace Safety Order will no longer be required. Employers may choose to continue to require wearing masks for operational reasons or in certain settings. 
  • Masks are encouraged on public transit and BC Ferries but are no longer required under public health order. 

Effective April 1, 2022

  • fully vaccinated travelers will no longer need to provide a pre-entry COVID-19 test result to enter Canada by air, land or water.

As a reminder, travellers arriving to Canada from any country, who qualify as fully vaccinated, may need to take a COVID-19 molecular test on arrival if selected for mandatory random testing. Travellers selected for mandatory random testing are not required to quarantine while awaiting their test result. 

 

All travellers continue to be required to submit their mandatory information in ArriveCAN before their arrival in Canada.Travelers who arrive without completing their ArriveCAN submission may have to test on arrival and quarantine for 14 days, regardless of their vaccination status. Travelers taking a cruise or a plane must submit their information in ArriveCAN within 72 hours before boarding.

 

Checklist of what you need to have ready at the border:

To enter or return to Canada as a fully vaccinated traveller, you must follow all of these requirements.

Whether you're driving or flying, have the following items with you for assessment by a government official at the border (land border crossings do not provide WiFi for travellers):

 

Effective April 8, 2022:

  • Proof of vaccination will no longer be required to access businesses, events and services
    • Individual businesses and event organizers can choose to continue requiring proof of vaccination for entry
    • Proof of vaccination is still required for federally regulated travel, like air travel (ArriveCAN)

 

Do you need a Negative COVID test when departing Canada?

Some countries still require you to have a negative test before returning from Vancouver.  For example the US still requires a negative Rapid Antigen test result 1 day prior to travel.  Each country will have their own requirements; it is the responsibility of the delegate to research their own country's requirement.   

 

COVID-19 Testing in Vancouver:

 

 

Helpful links:

 

18 February 2022

 

IAIA has received the following updates and information from Destination Vancouver.

 

Federal updates (Canada wide)

 

  • Beginning February 28th, testing for arriving vaccinated travellers will be reverting to random border testing. If a vaccinated traveller is selected for random testing, the traveller is not required to quarantine while awaiting test results.
  • Restrictions will be lifted for kids under 12 when travelling internationally with fully vaccinated adult travelers.
  • Travellers coming into Canada can use a rapid test or PCR test to enter the country.

 

    • For a rapid-test, it must be done no more than 24 hours before the trip and cannot be self-administered
    • For a PCR test, the current conditions remain – within 72 hours of departure into Canada.
  • There are no testing exceptions for those who make short trips in and out of Canada.

As this was just released, we expect the Government of Canada's website to be updated in the coming days. Please use this as the official source: https://travel.gc.ca/travel-covid.

 

Provincial updates (BC)

 

BC is lifting many of their restrictions, with the exception of mask mandates and proof of vaccine requirements.

 

Capacity limits for events and gatherings is back up to 100% as of February 17 and businesses like bars and nightclubs are allowed to reopen. There are no longer restrictions on table size and customers do not have to remain seated. 

 

Full details can be found here. 

 

Helpful links:

 

 

28 January 2022

 

Helpful links:

 

 

7 December 2021
IAIA continues to monitor COVID-19 developments, specifically the Omicron variant, and as of today, are planning to hold the conference In Vancouver 4-7 May 2022, together with a virtual component for attendees who can not or choose not to travel. We remain committed to providing participants with the best possible conference in accordance with instructions and recommendations issued by government and health authorities. Any decisions that we make will be in the participants' best interest and updates will continue to be posted here. In the meantime, we encourage you to monitor requirements for international travel to Canada at https://travel.gc.ca/travel-covid.

 

30 August 2021
To address potential travel restrictions and social equity concerns, and to continue providing educational opportunities to impact assessment professionals worldwide, the IAIA Board of Directors and staff have decided to offer a virtual component to IAIA22. An overview of the virtual option is available, and more details will be provided as they are developed.

 

23 August 2021
Starting 13 September 2021, the provincial government of British Columbia will require proof of vaccination for people attending conferences. This requirement will be in place until 31 January 2022, subject to an extension.