On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization assessed
COVID-19 as a pandemic. The Canadian government has unveiled
aggressive new measures to contain the coronavirus and this has
direct impact on Canadian immigration. This bulletin will provide a
summary of the key immigration updates for the period between April
23, 2020 and May 22, 2020.
Travel Ban
On March 20, 2020, the Governor General issued two Orders in
Council pursuant to section 58 of the Quarantine Act. The effect of
these is the creation of a temporary travel ban on foreign
nationals travelling to Canada from overseas (valid until June 30,
2020) and from the United States, unless the foreign nationals meet
one of the exemptions to the travel ban. The travel ban applies to
travel by land, air and water, and prevents foreign nationals from
travelling to Canada for optional or discretionary purposes, such
as tourism or recreation. On May 21, 2020, the Government of Canada
extended the US travel ban
