Canada’s capital is in its second week under siege from truckers and other activists demanding COVID-19 restrictions be removed, but many of those rules are already being rolled back by provincial governments. 

Two western provinces announced they’re ending their vaccine passports on Tuesday, and Quebec -- whose curfew was the strictest measure imposed in Canada -- laid out a schedule to remove many of its remaining COVID measures.

The spread of the protests this week to U.S. border crossings like the Ambassador Bridge to Detroit has added urgency to the process. It’s also exposed an underlying irony: while the truckers are camped outside the federal parliament buildings, it’s provincial legislatures where most COVID public-health orders are made.

The bridge in Windsor, Ontario is a vital economic conduit that serves as Canada’s gateway to the U.S. auto industry. Protesters have also jammed a border crossing between Montana and oil-rich Alberta in the west, where opposition to COVID measures tends to be highest. 

While officials across the country have long planned to ease restrictions as the omicron wave subsides, Premier Jason Kenney put an abrupt end to Alberta’s proof-of-vaccination system Tuesday evening. He argued his province can’t remain remain “at a heightened state of emergency forever.”

His counterpart in Quebec, however, brushed aside the suggestion it was due to the trucker protest in Quebec City last weekend. 

“If they want to take credit and not come back in two weeks, I wouldn’t be opposed to that,” Francois Legault told reporters after laying out his government’s timeline.  

There isn’t a clear set of demands from the protesters in Ottawa, but in general they want all COVID restrictions removed -- everything from capacity limits in restaurants and other businesses, to vaccine mandates and masking requirements. Some organizers have also been calling for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s removal from office. 

Over the past year, Canadian provinces have brought in strict vaccine passport systems. Details depend on the region, but they generally forbid unvaccinated people from dining indoors, going to gyms, or in some cases even entering a liquor or cannabis store. Strict mask mandates for any indoor public area are also the norm across the country.

But after two years of the pandemic, fatigue is setting in and the conversation is shifting toward how best to live with COVID. “Alberta will move on,” Kenney told reporters. “We’ll do so carefully, we’ll do so prudently, we will do so only if it does not threaten the capacity of our healthcare system.”

The neighboring province of Saskatchewan also said it will lift indoor masking requirements at the end of February. “It is time for us also to heal the divisions in our communities over vaccinations,” Premier Scott Moe said.

Canada’s largest province is moving more slowly. Ontario Premier Doug Ford said in January many restrictions would be removed by mid-March. Though there’s no current plan to drove vaccine passports, the province’s chief medical officer signaled the government is reassessing the value of the program. 

The federal government still has levers of its own to pull. With few exceptions, anyone entering Canada must be vaccinated, as does anyone taking a plane or train in the country. Trudeau’s government has also mandated vaccines for all federal public servants and employees in federally-regulated industries such as major banks and telecom firms.

For now, the prime minister has dug in his heels despite the semi-truck blockade that continues to paralyze Ottawa’s downtown core. In a speech to parliament Monday night, he pointed out he won last year’s election with a platform that promised vaccine mandates to fight the virus.

“Everyone’s tired of COVID, but these protests are not the way to get through it,” Trudeau said.