Canada, too dangerous? The UK’s Covid infection rates are far higher

You might imagine that bears, forest fires and the high propensity of the (almost entirely friendly) locals to own firearms might propel Canada to unwanted heights on the risk register, writes Simon Calder

There seems more risk in staying in Britain than travelling to Canada at present (PA Wire)

The consular department of the Foreign Office has a long and proud history. Besides the care given to countless distressed British travellers, diplomats have sought to minimise harm by assessing and explaining the risks awaiting those travelling to nations around the world.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office travel advice provides a fair picture of the potential dangers.

Or so I thought. But just as the travel industry and our international horizons have changed dramatically over the course of the coronavirus pandemic, so too have the parameters for assigning countries to the no-go list: the register of nations to which you are warned against all but essential travel.

You can guess the sorts of places: Djibouti, Iran, Canada… yes, Canada. When the government in Ottawa generously said this week that it “intends to open Canada’s borders to any fully vaccinated travellers on 7 September,” I turned immediately to the Foreign Office travel advice for that beautiful nation.

Our government “advises against all but essential travel to Canada”. That means a standard travel insurance policy will not be valid.

You might imagine that bears, forest fires and the high propensity of the (almost entirely friendly) locals to own firearms might propel Canada to unwanted heights on the risk register. Yet the clear and present danger, it turns out, is “the current assessment of Covid-19 risks”.

Crikey, just how bad are things in the world’s second-largest country? I checked Wednesday’s figures to see how much lower our infection rate is than Canada’s. In fact, it is rather higher. Not 65 per cent higher – 65 times higher.

Allowing for the difference in population, for each Canadian who contracts Covid, currently 120 British people do the same. You can draw your own conclusions about where you would feel less at risk from coronavirus.

The Foreign Office insists its assessments are constantly reviewed and based upon the latest evidence. So despite what some travel industry figures speculate, the advice is not affected by political interference from Downing Street. But I am afraid that leads to an even more alarming conclusion: that after crunching widely available data from reliable institutions, consular staff still reckon Canada is too risky.

Either my analysis is mistaken, or a reputation that took the Foreign Office decades to create is on the line. I hope I am wrong.

Yours,

Simon Calder

Travel correspondent