More than 40 countries still require travellers to have COVID-19 travel insurance

Buying travel insurance ahead of a trip is still not an option if you plan on travelling — at least, it’s still compulsory in 43 countries and territories.

That’s according to a new map of countries around the world that still require compulsory travel insurance covering COVID by HelloSafe that was released on Thursday, June 9.

HelloSafe says the number of countries making travel insurance compulsory increased by almost 29 per cent in the last six months.

And when it comes to travelling to the Asian continent, 35 per cent of countries require proof of travel insurance when entering their territory.

In all, nearly 22 per cent of countries in the world still require that proof of insurance before being allowed in, Canada being among them.

The map, which is published on the HelloSafe website, is current as of June 7, 2022.

This is another step some travellers have to contend with as Canada continues to grapple with issues of passport application backlogs and long airport lines.

According to a report by the Canadian Press, officials have been bracing for a rise in passport demand with the relaxation of COVID-19 border measures, bringing on 600 new employees to help sort through the influx of paperwork. Last month, Service Canada reopened all passport service counters across the country, and additional counters have been added at more than 300 centres.

But as many Canadians look to venture abroad after more than two years of pandemic-restricted travel, some passport seekers say they've been forced to camp outside service centres or reschedule trips because of the bureaucratic bottleneck.

Meanwhile, ministers in Canada announced they were tackling the long wait times at borders and airports by hiring over 640 new CATSA recruits in the four largest airports and 865 in total across Canada.

Almost 2,000 more applications are also still in the screening process.