Not all Canadian airports will have the capacity to immediately begin testing arriving air travellers from countries other than the United States for COVID-19, Canada’s health minister has admitted.

Ottawa announced on Tuesday that all air travellers entering Canada, except for those coming from the US, would need to be tested for COVID-19 upon arrival at the airport and isolate until they get their results, even if they are fully vaccinated against the virus.

The stricter measures come as public health officials around the world warn of the potentially dangerous new Omicron variant of COVID-19.

However, Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos admitted that the directive will take time to implement and will vary according to local airport conditions. “There are airports in Canada which can start doing that really quickly because there is excess capacity. Other airports will take a bit more time,” he said.

Duclos didn’t offer any additional details on when the full testing would be up and running and officials in his department were unable to offer a specific timeline.

Duclos made clear the federal government would cover the costs of the tests, and that all previous COVID-19 testing requirements would remain in place.

The other unknown is whether Canada will require currently exempt American air travellers from the testing requirement. Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said Wednesday that it was too early to say whether Canada’s latest requirement to test arriving air travellers for COVID-19 would be extended to include US passengers.

So far, fears that the US would impose a travel ban on Canada given that British Columbia, Ontario, Quebec, and Alberta have all reported cases of Omicron has not been realized, though yesterday testing timelines were shortened to 24 hours rather than three days.

Experts suspect it will take weeks before scientists know whether Omicron is more transmissible, leads to more severe disease, or is capable of evading vaccine protection.

Meanwhile, confusion has been growing at airports, where few details about when the testing is to be up and running.

Giovanni Taboylilson says he was tired and puzzled after arriving yesterday at Edmonton International Airport from Jamaica, as he was told by airport officials that new rules were kicking in at midnight

He says he was randomly selected for a test during a layover in Toronto, was told his results would be available in three days and was allowed to continue to Edmonton.

An airport spokesman says staff are in discussions with Transport Canada, which is working to implement the testing of all travellers as soon as possible.

“We don’t have a set date for when testing will start but we anticipate it will begin in the next several days,” Steve Maybee said.