Impact of Canadian visa changes not yet known, says Antigua-Barbuda minister

The fallout from the Canadian government’s decision to remove visa-free access for travel for residents of Antigua and Barbuda is not yet known, according to one of the country’s ministers.

And what effect it will have on the citizenship by investment programme (CIP) is one of the unclear areas.

From 5.30am on 27 June, any existing electronic travel authorisation (eTA) issued to an Antigua and Barbuda passport holder will no longer be valid and these travellers will not be able to use their eTA to travel to Canada.

After the decision was confirmed on 26 June, the Antigua and Barbuda government said that it regrets the decision by Canadian authorities.

In a post-cabinet briefing last week, Minister of Information Melford Nicholas described the effects of the decision as “not a known factor”.

But the Antigua Observer reports him as saying that discussions had already begun on improving the performance and promotion of the CIP.

“The question of whether or not there is going to be a net fallout… only time will tell,” he said.

“There is more than one string being pulled. There is going to be increased promotion [and] we have changed the incentive programmes for the suppliers and the combination of those two plus the loss of visa free entry will result in the particular performance.”

North America ‘not the only attraction’

Defending the dual-island’s CIP scheme, Nicholas said he believes that visa-free entry to Canada was not the only feature that lured people to Antigua and Barbuda’s.

And the government’s chief of staff is reported in the Antigua Observer to gave said that Canada’s new regulations will not mean a loss of “a significant portion of the income which the CIP garnered”.

Lionel Hurst referred to the success of Dominica’s CIP, which is still run despite the island losing visa-free access to Canada almost two decades ago.

In the same article, Hurst is quoted as saying that even without simple access to Canada, Dominica “earns far more resources through its CIP programme than Antigua and Barbuda ever did”.