A case study of the decision-making and outcomes of Canada’s border management in response to COVID-19 is one thematic focus of our research. Canada is a highly globalized country with a diverse and mobile population and an economy dependent on international trade and investment. During the COVID-19 pandemic the federal government deployed a wide range of travel measures to manage public health risks associated with high volumes of cross-border travel in Canada by land, air and sea, including the world's longest international border with the United States.
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During the initial months of the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommended against the use of travel restrictions in accordance with the International Health Regulations (IHR). Yet over the following months and years, virtually all governments applied a broad range of travel-related measures to control the importation and onward spread of SARS-CoV-2. The near universal, frequently changing and prolonged use of such measures since early 2020 stands in stark contrast to what was envisioned when the IHR were revised in 2005, and in contested conflict with specific stipulations on interference in international traffic (“Article 43 Additional health measures”). One key thematic focus of our research explores the new realities which have emerged in terms of how and to what extent countries have implemented cross-border measures in response to COVID-19, and to what effect.
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The prolonged and unpredictable use of travel measures during COVID-19 stemmed in part from a lack of agreed risk-based approaches across national governments. Most governments implemented travel measures in response to COVID-19 without providing evidence-informed rationales. Looking ahead, policymakers will be faced with the critical challenge of how to appropriately analyse the need to use travel measures when responding to future pathogens including new SARS-CoV-2 variants. To contribute to tools which support coordinated, evidence-informed decision-making in future, our research identifies and analyses different risk methodologies that countries have adopted on trade or travel measures in response to COVID-19.
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