The Public Health Agency of Canada says it is necessary to temporarily block the entry of people from countries affected by Ebola to reduce the risk of importing the disease, despite the World Health Organization’s recommendation not to restrict travel.
“The health and safety of Canadians will always be the Government of Canada’s top priority,” a spokesperson said in an email to The Canadian Press.
“While the health risk to Canadians from Ebola disease remains low, we are taking a precautionary approach to ensure the safety of Canadians…particularly in the context of the FIFA World Cup.”
On Thursday, Canada, the United States and Mexico issued a statement saying they had “aligned public health travel measures for people coming from African regions at increased risk of contracting the Ebola virus.”
“This coordinated approach aims to protect our citizens and the millions of visitors, fans, athletes and tourists expected during the 2026 FIFA World Cup, while maintaining travel and trade across our borders,” the statement said.
Hundreds of thousands of people from around the world are expected to descend on Toronto and Vancouver in June and July for the games.
But some infectious disease experts in Canada side with the WHO and say the restrictions are not an effective way to prevent people from contracting Ebola in this country.
Canada has never had a case of Ebola.
Canadian officials said that starting Wednesday, final decisions on immigration and travel applications for people from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and South Sudan would be suspended for 90 days, although that could be extended or lifted depending on how the outbreak evolves.
Citizens of all three countries need a visa to enter Canada.
Officials also announced a mandatory 21-day self-isolation period for anyone who has traveled to those countries. That measure will come into force on Saturday under the Quarantine Law and will last until August 29.
The federal government said it is taking these measures “out of an abundance of caution” as health workers struggle to contain an outbreak of the Bundibugyo virus, a rare form of Ebola, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. There are a handful of cases in neighboring Uganda, which responded by closing its border on Wednesday. No cases have been reported in South Sudan, but it shares a border with both countries.
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Unlike the other, more common strain of Ebola virus, there is no vaccine or licensed treatment for Bundibugyo virus.
Relatives of a victim who died from the Ebola virus cry during the funeral at the Rwampara cemetery, in Rwampara, Congo, Saturday, May 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Moses Sawasawa)
In an email sent to The Canadian Press on Wednesday, the WHO said it “advises against any restrictions on travel and/or trade to the Democratic Republic of the Congo or Uganda based on available information on the current outbreak.”
“No country should close its borders or impose restrictions on travel and trade. These measures are usually implemented out of fear and have no scientific basis,” said spokesman Tarik Jašarević.
“Most importantly, these restrictions can also compromise local economies and negatively impact response operations from a security and logistics perspective.”
In response, the Public Health Agency of Canada said: “WHO has noted that there are significant uncertainties regarding the actual number of infected people, geographic spread and epidemiological links between cases.”
Dr. Allison McGeer, an infectious disease specialist at Toronto’s Mount Sinai Hospital, said she is already seeing how the measures could interfere with Canada’s help fighting the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
“I’ve already received emails from people who are thinking about helping with the management of the outbreak. And some of them need to think about the fact that if they return they will be quarantined for three weeks.”
McGeer said science does not support broad travel restrictions as ways to significantly reduce risk in Canada.
The Democratic Republic of the Congo is a large country and the outbreak is in Ituri province, far from the capital, he said.
“This could be something that would have some scientific justification if we could be specific about where people are traveling from,” he said.
Additionally, Ebola is much less contagious than COVID-19, the flu or measles and is transmitted through contact with bodily fluids. People are also not contagious until they show symptoms.
“I understand the fact that Ebola is very scary. And I understand, you know, the reaction and the feeling that closing our borders will protect us,” he said.
But “statistically, there is an extremely small chance that someone (with Ebola) will come. And if they come, we are completely capable of controlling the disease, a disease that is not communicable until you get sick,” McGeer said.
Angela Rasmussen, a virologist at the University of Saskatchewan who has studied Ebola, also said the travel restrictions are not based on science.
“I think screening travelers, certainly, from places that have been affected is a good idea – you know, screening them for symptoms and offering them testing,” he said.
“But I don’t think there’s any support for revoking immigration documents or immigration paperwork or the ability to immigrate to Canada or travel to Canada based solely on national origin.”
Rasmussen said Ebola is most often transmitted to people who care for Ebola patients, including health care workers or family members, or through contact with the bodies of people who have died.
Although he believes quarantining all people arriving from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda and South Sudan is “excessive” and that restrictions should be more geographically specific, Rasmussen said isolating people and monitoring their symptoms is enough to prevent the spread of Ebola in Canada.
But Dr. Matthew Runnalls, medical director of Toronto’s World Cup medical planning team, said that although Ebola is not as contagious as other viruses, travel restrictions are “completely reasonable.”
“I think fundamentally this is a very low-risk scenario, especially for North America, but it is a high-risk pathogen,” said Runnalls, who is also an emergency physician at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Center in Toronto.
“When you’re talking about a tournament of this scale and the size and the number of people that come and attend, we also want to…make sure that the event itself doesn’t become an expansion opportunity.”
— With files from Hannah Alberga
