The government now advises against all non-essential international travel in the face of the rapidly spreading Omicron variant of COVID-19. Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos made the announcement Wednesday, following a Tuesday evening meeting between premiers and the prime minister.
The health minister says the highly transmissible variant is now spreading in Canadian communities, and just about anywhere else in the world.
Ottawa agreed to send shipments of booster doses and rapid tests to provinces and territories to quickly ramp up vaccination campaigns to combat the virus at home.
Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs Dominic LeBlanc urged Canadians to be cautious as they head into the holiday season.