Trudeau says Canada will not welcome unvaccinated tourists into the country

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Thursday that foreign tourists who are not vaccinated would not be allowed into the country.

"I can tell you right now that's not going to happen for quite a while," Trudeau said when asked by reporters if Canada would allow unvaccinated tourists to enter the country, according to Reuters.

Earlier this week, Canada loosened travel restrictions between it and the United States, and has allowed fully vaccinated Canadians to skip the 14-day quarantine period needed to travel out of the country. However, non-essential foreign travelers not from the U.S. are still not allowed to enter the country.

"The next step we'll be looking at what measures we can allow for international travelers who are fully vaccinated," Trudeau said. "We will have more to say in the coming weeks."

Trudeau has said the government is looking at domestic vaccination rates to gauge when they can ease COVID-19 travel restrictions. Currently, approximately 78% of Canadians 12 and over have received one dose of the vaccine, with about 44% being fully vaccinated.