b'COVID-19 BUSINESS TRAVEL RESUMESAlmost two years since the start of therelevant and more important than itbacklogs. Even where they have COVID-19 pandemic, we are finallywas pre-COVID because it has suchreopened, they are focusing more on seeing an upswing in global relocation.an impact on businesses across thecitizenship services and emergency According to Roxanne Israel, partner,globenot just in terms of dealing withhumanitarian support, Israel says. You EY Law LLP: After Canada opened tothe emergency and the initial crisis, butcant get visas for a lot of countries. more non-essential travel [on Septembernow because its a big part of what theTheyre only letting a certain number of 7], weve seen an increase in thefuture of work will look like.people in for interviews and they have number of inquiries around new assign- limited staff, plus consulates are usually ments, and work that was deferredA new surge in mobility, however,in tight quarters, so you can only have during COVID is coming back online.comes with challenges. Travel has beena small number of people because of constrained because consulates, likesocial distancing. That will be a chal-In fact, continues Israel, in many waysother workplaces, have been underlenge at least for the next year as coun-the mobility function has become morelimited operations and now face tries try to navigate that backlog.and, within the U.S., the approvals issued by the Food and Drugthe EU and other jurisdictions. In most cases, theres still a testing Administration (FDA). Because these organizations approve arequirement as well, says Israel.broader range of vaccines than any one country typically does, this could foster greater international agreement moving forward. Recently, Ottawa lifted the global travel advisory it put in placein March 2020, which asked Canadians to avoid non-essential VACCINE SUPPLY travel outside the country. On the same day Ottawa made its Vaccination status protocols are also hampered by the fact thatannouncement, the U.S. government announced that beginning vaccines arent equally available everywhere. While countries likeNovember 8, foreign national air travellers would be allowed to Canada have ample supply and high vaccination ratesalmostenter that country provided they can prove theyre fully vaccinated.78 per cent of Canadians were at least partially vaccinated at pressThis was the status quo at press-time. By the time youre reading timesome African countries languish at under one per cent.this, things may have changed further. Relocators need to be at This can result in travel hesitancy among employees once eager tothe top of their game and stay informed of all the nuances. be working abroad. The fact that vaccination rates are still very low in some parts of the world is likely to create a tiered playing field where some destinations are more of a challenge, while demand for others rises. Depending on the circumstances around a particular country, you might see an assignee hesitant to relocate right away if theres an outbreak in that country, says Roxanne Israel, partner, EY Law LLP.One way to boost vaccination rates has been to approve mixed vaccinations, as weve seen in Canada. Also in some countries, including Canada, the U.S. and the U.K., a thirdboostershot is now being prescribed to maintain vaccine effectiveness. This too will need to be considered by companies moving employees to foreign destinations. Theyre starting to say that for more vulner-able groups, in order to maintain immunity, youre going to have to get a booster shot. So that could be built into the protocols going forward, Israel says. Given the inherent challenges the pandemic has placed on vaccin-ation, mobility professionals will need to exercise closer oversight on assignees to ensure their health safety over the duration of their foreign work cycle. Pre-pandemic, most employers had little need to learn of an employees vaccination history. Today, it is paramount, at least as far as COVID-19 inoculation is concerned.Fortunately, widespread vaccination has allowed the global community to take a more traveller-friendly approach to mobilityone based on travellers vaccination status and away from the blanket travel bans and restrictions seen in the early days of the pandemic. Regions and individual countries are shifting to more of a vaccination protocol, which is what the U.S. is moving towards, and thats what Canada has. Were [also] seeing this in Winter 2021PERSPECTIVES25'