Canada extends Ebola-related immigration and travel bans
Canada has extended measures banning entry of foreign nationals living in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Uganda, and South Sudan.
The extended measures also prohibit entry of foreign nationals with past-21-day travel to the DRC.
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The suite of Ebola-related restrictions is set to remain in effect until November 27, 2026, as announced by the federal government in a notice published on September 28.
Immigration documents will remain suspended for residents of the DRC, Uganda and South Sudan.
Canada will also continue to bar foreign nationals who have travelled to the DRC within the last 21 days from entering or transiting through the country, with very limited exceptions.
Under the document suspension, anyone who listed the DRC, Uganda or South Sudan as their last country of residence on their application is barred from travelling to Canada, even with a previously approved visa, permit or electronic travel authorization.
IRCC said new and existing applications affected by the measures will continue to be processed, but not finalized, while the measures are in effect.
Canadian citizens and landed permanent residents who have been in the DRC, Uganda or South Sudan within the past 21 days may still enter Canada but must undergo a health assessment on arrival. Those without symptoms are required to quarantine for 21 days, while those showing symptoms must isolate in a medical facility.
Foreign nationals entering Canada with past-21-day travel to Uganda or South Sudan must submit to a health assessment and 21-day quarantine on arrival.
The September 28, 2026, end date had been established by a 30-day extension of measures that had been initially set to expire on August 29.
The first set of measures, put in place on May 27, suspended immigration documents for residents of the DRC, Uganda, and South Sudan for 90 days.
From May 30, anyone who had been in those countries within the previous 21 days, including Canadian citizens and permanent residents, was required to undergo a health assessment and quarantine on arrival, with those measures set to run until August 29.
The document suspension marked the first use of the federal government's expanded executive powers to manage entire classes of applications, documents and temporary residents, following the coming into force of Bill C-12 in March 2026.
On June 12, the government revealed the suspensions included 36,000 applications for permanent residence.
The entry ban on foreign nationals who had been in the DRC within the previous 21 days followed on July 20.
An interim order under the Aeronautics Act, issued alongside the ban, bars airlines from allowing those travellers to board flights to Canada.
The DRC government's National Institute of Public Health reported 8,067 confirmed Ebola cases and confirmed 3,901 deaths as of September 26.
Uganda had reported 20 confirmed Ebola cases, including two deaths, before the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) declared its outbreak over on August 27, following 42 consecutive days without a new confirmed case.
No Ebola cases have been reported in South Sudan.
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