Ontario isn't sharing COVID-19 flight exposures like it used to

The Public Health Agency of Canada says Ontario is no longer sending notifications about all flights with potential COVID-19 exposures.

On its website, PHAC says that its lists of affected flights may not include affected flight notifications from all jurisdictions.

Since September 9, PHAC is only receiving “limited” notifications from Ontario, the home of the country’s busiest airport.

Daily Hive has reached out to the province to ask why that is, but has not yet heard back.

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Ontario isn’t the only province posting less COVID-19 flight information than earlier in the pandemic. Alberta Heath Services now only collects travel and flight information from COVID-19 cases with “severe outcomes” such as hospitalization or death.

Quebec has also limited the number of COVID-19 flight notifications it sends to the public health agency.

All domestic air travellers in Canada must be fully vaccinated to board their plane by the end of October, according to Transport Minister Oma Alghabra. All international visitors to Canada must also be fully vaccinated to enter the country.

The vaccination requirement will also extend to travellers, including all commercial air travellers, passengers on interprovincial trains, and passengers on large marine vessels with overnight accommodations. 2/2

— Omar Alghabra (@OmarAlghabra) September 27, 2021

Despite growing requirements for vaccination, there have still been several recent COVID-19 flight exposures flagged for planes taking off or landing at Pearson International Airport in Toronto:

• Air Canada flight AC156 from Calgary to Toronto on September 21
• Air Canada flight AC604 from Toronto to Halifax on September 21
• Flair Airlines flight F8223 from Toronto to Vancouver on September 21
• WestJet flight WS723 from Toronto to Vancouver on September 21
• Turkish Airlines flight TK17 from Istanbul to Toronto on September 21
• Air Canada Jazz flight AC7947 from Toronto to Regina on September 22
• WestJet flight WS505 from Totonto to Saskatoon on September 22
• Air Canada flight AC147 from Toronto to Calgary on September 23
• Air Canada flight AC618 from Toronto to Halifax on September 23
• Air Canada flight AC105 from Toronto to Vancouver on September 24
• WestJet flight WS701 from Toronto to Vancouver on September 24
• Air Canada Jazz flight 7696 from Nashville to Toronto on September 23
• Air Transat flight TS569 from Punta Cana to Toronto on September 23
• Air Canada/Lufthansa flight AC856/LH6585 from Toronto to London on September 24
• Air Canada flight 1851 from Toronto to Las Vegas on September 24
• LOT Polish Airlines flight LO45 from Warsaw to Toronto on September 24
• Air Canada flight 857 from London to Toronto on September 26
• Ethiopian Airlines flight ET552 from Addis Ababa to Toronto on September 27
• Air Canada Jazz flight AC8332 from Toronto to Charlottetown on September 30
• Air Canada flight 723 from New York to Toronto on September 30