Want to travel? Here’s how you will prove you are vaccinated

Many Canadians are starting to think - dream - about travelling again after the federal government floated the possibility of loosening restrictions on certain fully vaccinated travellers to Canada as soon as early July.

Ottawa says it is planning how to lessen quarantine requirements for those have had both jabs of any two-dose vaccine.

But many questions remain.

So far, here's what we know - and what we don't - about how you will be able to prove you're vaccinated:

• What is Canada considering as proof of vaccination?

Officials say there are two kinds of documentation in the works at this time: vaccine passports and vaccine certification - and they could eventually be one in the same.

• What is the difference between a vaccine passport and vaccine certification?

The first - vaccine passports or vaxports" as some call them - would be certified proof of COVID-19 vaccination that would allow Canadians to travel internationally and to be admitted to other countries when they go abroad.

The second is proof or certification of one's vaccination status that provinces have either developed or are planning to issue to allow Canadians to do a whole range of things like, for example, go to concerts, schools, or other venues where immunization could be required, or to travel domestically. If there's no co-ordination, that could mean a patchwork of documents or certificates across the country.

But the federal government said this week that federal-provincial talks have led to agreement on the need to co-ordinate this kind of thing.

• What would a Canadian vaccine passport, or national certification, look like?

Who knows? There is very little clarity about what is under consideration, only that Ottawa is studying the issue.

There are basically two issues: by what means would travellers provide a valid certification of vaccination to the government of Canada; and what is a valid certification of vaccination anyway?

Would it be a paper or an electronic document? Or both? Would you carry it on your phone, upload it to an app or a government website?

That's what all the talks are about.

Quebec is already issuing QR codes, or machine-readable matrix barcodes, sending them to people's phones once they have been vaccinated. Ontario, Manitoba and Newfoundland and Labrador leaders have talked about issuing proof of vaccination. Alberta and B.C. have said they won't issue or require vaccine certificates. B.C. cited concerns about the equity" implications of that kind of thing.

Nevertheless, Intergovernmental Affairs Minister Dominic Leblanc told reporters Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and the premiers have agreed on the importance of national proof" of vaccination.

A senior government official said they agreed on the need for common standards of data encryption and privacy protection.

We're coming up with a national way to certify vaccination for Canadians," the official said, on background. That would include, for example, if you travelled to the U.S. or Mexico and got vaccinated there, and returned to Canada and want certification that you've been fully vaccinated.

Right now, the agreement is on sharing the data and certifying the proof of vaccinations for all Canadians in a way that's encrypted, that's secure, that respects privacy." The challenge is the data is held by provinces and territories, and they all have different ways of collecting and storing that data.

• If they agree on what kind of vaccine certification we need, is that the passport that I can use abroad?

Maybe. Or rather, it could become that - a document that can be presented by Canadians travelling abroad that would be acceptable to other countries.

For now, it seems likely to become the document that would be acceptable to Canada for Canadians coming back from abroad where proof of vaccination would be necessary to avoid more rigorous quarantine requirements.

In the early days at least, it's most likely that the federal government will ask Canadians returning home to upload their proof of vaccination to the ArriveCAN app. That's the application the Canadian government uses currently during COVID-19.

It currently requires travellers to upload all kinds of information within 72 hours before their arrival to Canada such as their travel and contact information; positive or negative COVID-19 test information; quarantine plan (unless they meet one of the exemptions for quarantine); their self-assessment of any COVID-19 symptoms; and a travel history of the previous 14-days.

You'll be able to upload your proof of vaccination once we come up with it," said the official. That will be used for those who want to travel to Canada."

• Which other countries are using vaccine passports?

Several, such as Israel, Denmark, China, Mexico and Lebanon, have already developed some version of a vaccine passport or proof of vaccination. The EU and the U.K. are still working on what a system should look like, with the EU suggesting it would soon accept travellers from the U.S. with proof of vaccination.

New York City has developed its own proof of vaccination system, known as Excelsior.

Think of it as a mobile airline boarding pass, but for proving you received a COVID-19 vaccination or negative test," the NYC website says. It's a voluntary e-pass, storable on your smartphone that offers a free, fast and secure way to present digital proof of COVID-19 vaccination or negative test results" in order to enter certain businesses, or concerts or event venues.

• Who is coming up with the rules? How will it prevent fraud?

Canada says it is looking to guidance from the International Civil Aviation Organization or ICAO.

ICAO published technical standards on Wednesday for machine readable travel documents" that it developed at the request of an advisory council of 36 member states, but it is up to sovereign states to adopt the standards.

The specs provide standards for paper documents or electronic documents that are machine-readable - the same way a biometric passport is by border guards at entry points.

Those standards were developed in consultation with groups like the International Air Transport Association or IATA, which represents 80 per cent of the world's airlines.

The IATA has already developed a mobile app known as the IATA travel pass" that is downloadable now and IATA says will help travellers store and manage their verified certifications for COVID-19 tests or vaccines.

IATA says it was developed to be ready for when the travel sector reopens.

But the decision on whether to use this app, or some other platform, is up to governments which decide the requirements to travel.

And they may not end up agreeing on a common paper or electronic document or digital technology platform.

Tonda MacCharles is an Ottawa-based reporter covering federal politics for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @tondamacc