During the interview on CTV’s Question Period, Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said that “We need to remain prudent, and if things change in the fall, we may have to again adjust our measures. I hope they don’t get worse, but if they do, we want to make sure that we’re ready to protect Canadians,”.

When pressed about what threshold would need to be met for the government to reinstate the mandates, Minister Alghabra said that it would depend on emerging variants:

“For example, if –God forbid—we have a variant that has a high infection rate but low hospitalization rate, then even if the hospitalization rate is high, we may not have to impose severe measures. But, if we have a variant that has low transmission rate, but high severity rate, even if the hospitalization rate is low at the beginning, we need to be prepared for a high severity,”.

Minister Alghabra said that the situation remains “uncertain” but that the government has “to be responsible,”. 

Adding that his “commitment and our government’s commitment is that we will do whatever it takes to protect the health and safety of Canadians.”

On Monday, June 13, the Canadian government announced they were suspending the government’s vaccine mandates for domestic and outbound international travel for Canadian citizens, but keeping it in place for foreign travelers trying to enter Canada.