Canada is an enormous country. While it is a 4 hour flight from London to Athens, it is a 6 hour flight from Vancouver to Halifax (Pacific to Atlantic, or from the University of British Columbia to Saint Mary's University)!
As you wouldn’t check the covid data in London before flying to Athens, it is important before flying to Canada that you get very familiar with the covid situation in the city and region you will be studying in. This also has a direct impact on whether the program you are in will more likely have in-person classes, or be delivered mostly or entirely by virtual technology. It will affect whether the city or region is heading for lockdown, or living life more or less as normal.
Take the very eastern side of Canada as an example.
In a recent article published by the President Dawn Russell of St. Thomas University, emphasizes the extraordinary record of Atlantic Canada in fighting the virus:
After nearly two years of fighting COVID-19, Atlantic Canada has been widely recognized for its exceptional leadership in executing an effective public health response that has resulted in significantly lower case numbers. …
Atlantic universities have long held our ground in comparison to top-tier post-secondary institutions across the nation, but COVID-19 has allowed us to showcase our value system and strengths. Known for top-tier academic standards and a broad range of higher-education opportunities, the region has served-up a master class on how to effectively protect populations and mitigate impacts throughout a pandemic.
So to give a sense of how different the situation can be across Canada, this is the key link to get the most up-to-date status report:
https://health-infobase.canada.ca/covid-19/epidemiological-summary-covid-19-cases.html
Based on today’s report up to the week ending August 12, 2021, for the previous 7 days across the entire Province of Nova Scotia there have been a total of 19 new cases.
Whereas across the entire Province of British Columbia there have been a total of 2,987 cases.
British Columbia has a population of above 5 times the population of Nova Scotia but its case count is 150 times the case count of Nova Scotia over the same period. In fact, British Columbia and Alberta each have a case count in that period even greater than in Ontario, though Ontario has a population more or less 3 times greater than either of those Provinces.
In sum, prepare well and certainly general Canada statistics are helpful. But you really need to know the detailed covid situation data precisely where you are going.
See: https://newcanadianmedia.ca/atlantic-canadian-universities-lead-with-covid-ready-campuses/
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