The federal government is changing course on its vaccine mandate for Canadian truckers with just days to spare.
A ministry transport spokesperson has confirmed to The Canadian Press Canada’s truck drivers will not need to quarantine if they’re unvaccinated or have only rolled up their sleeves once.
In November, the feds announced truck drivers crossing into Canada would need to be fully vaccinated by January 15th.
Under that plan, unvaccinated Canadian drivers would be required to isolate for 14 days.
The Canadian Trucking Alliance predicted that could force roughly 16,000 cross-border drivers off the roads.
The mandate is still set to come into effect on Saturday for American truckers, which means they’ll be turned away at the border if they have not received both shots.
There had been calls from both sides of the border for the mandate to be delayed due to concerns over further supply chain disruptions and worker shortages during the latest wave of COVID-19.
More than $433 billion in goods is traded between Canada and the U-S via roads.
**With files from Katie Nicholls.
