Government warns Canadians to avoid non-essential travel

On December 15, 2021, the Government of Canada reinstituted the non-essential travel advisory, recommending Canadians – regardless of vaccination status – do not travel outside of the country to reduce the spread of COVID, specifically due to the Omicron variant. For those who have existing travel plans, the recommendation is to cancel or postpone for the time being. The government continues to advise Canadians to avoid all international cruise travel as well.

“We understand this news is disappointing to many people throughout Manitoba – whether you had a trip already booked or just had the early plans dreamed up – we were all excited to see things were looking better for a period of time,” says Dave Tompkins, director of sales for Manitoba Blue Cross. “At Manitoba Blue Cross, we know some people may still need to travel during the advisory, for a variety of reasons. If you are eligible to travel outside of Canada based on conditions set out by the federal government (at travel.gc.ca), you can still get coverage for COVID-related emergency health expenses while you’re away with our travel health plans with coronavirus coverage.”

Annual & Deluxe Coronavirus Travel Health Plans

The coronavirus travel plans from Manitoba Blue Cross include coverage for coronavirus with no vaccination requirements, but there are coronavirus-specific exclusions in which you are not covered if:

• within the last 30 days before the departure date, you have undergone a COVID-19 test and received a positive test result.
• you have been notified by a public health official that they were a close contact of a confirmed case and are required to quarantine or self-isolate.
• you experience any COVID-19 symptoms in the last seven days prior to departure and have a positive COVID-19 test result during the trip.
• there is a level 4 advisory from the Government of Canada for the destination. (Anything unrelated to the level 4 travel advisory is still eligible for coverage.)

Three additional coronavirus benefits are also included as part of these plans: Coronavirus Pandemic Quarantine, Coronavirus Pandemic Testing (a transportation benefit for a taxi to and from a coronavirus testing centre) and Coronavirus Pandemic Trip Interruption.

For essential workers, like truckers, who are required to travel for work, our standard travel health plans will provide coronavirus coverage regardless of vaccine status or advisory.

Due to the non-essential advisory coming into effect, policies for airfare cancellation, holiday cancellation or tour packages purchased on or after December 16, 2021 are not eligible for cancellation coverage related to coronavirus.

If you are unsure about your coverage or have a question, please contact our customer service centre.

For those who are travelling, find travel tips in our recent blog article about the safe return to travel.