Minister of State Ablonczy Advises Canadians on the Three Rs of Foreign Travel

June 18, 2012 - The Honourable Diane Ablonczy, Minister of State of Foreign Affairs (Consular and the Americas), today issued the following statement ahead of the busy summer travel season:

“While travelling or living abroad, Canadians sometimes experience challenges. If they do, our consular offices all over the world are available to offer emergency consular services.

“Canada receives more than 215,000 consular requests a year. However, some Canadians appear to have the mistaken idea that consular officers can act as their personal concierge. That may account for requests that are definitely beyond the range of what is included in consular services. Some real life examples:

Consular officers cannot provide you with refills for your medication, but they can recommend good local medical services.

Officers cannot drive you around to find the person who mugged you, but they can help you contact the local police.

While Canadian officials everywhere love their hockey and maple syrup, they cannot provide a place to watch the playoffs or provide emergency rations of your favourite breakfast condiment.

“To help prepare Canadians before they travel, we encourage them to observe the three Rs of international travel: Read up, Register and Reach us.

Read up on relevant topics such as safety, security and local laws in the destination country at travel.gc.ca by consulting our travel reports and warnings.

Register with the Registration of Canadians Abroad service, which enables us to contact and assist Canadians in an emergency.

Reach us at our Emergency Operations Centre in Ottawa if you experience problems abroad.

“With good planning, Canadians travelling, working or studying abroad should be able to avoid most challenges, leaving consular officers available to help in cases of true emergency.”

For more information on consular services, please consult www.travel.gc.ca.