OTTAWA -- Prime Minister Justin Trudeau today defended his foreign affairs minister鈥檚 recent and upcoming work-related travel overseas as 鈥渆ssential,鈥� as he assured Canadians that all quarantine and testing requirements will be followed.

Asked whether Canadians might think it hypocritical they have been told to avoid international travel for more than a year, but Foreign Affairs Minister Marc Garneau doesn鈥檛 have to, Trudeau said his government has always 鈥渉ighlighted the need for essential travel.鈥�

鈥淭here are thousands of trucks with food and essential goods that cross the U.S. border every day. We continue to see essential travel happening, the question always remains what is essential travel and are the rules going to be followed,鈥� he said Tuesday, speaking to reporters in Ottawa.

Garneau travelled to the U.K. early in the month to attend an in-person meeting of G7 foreign and development ministers. He鈥檚 also expected to travel next week, to the 12th ministerial meeting of the Arctic Council in Iceland.

In a statement to CTVNews.ca, the minister鈥檚 spokesperson Syrine Khoury said 鈥淭here will be no special treatment for the minister and he will pass through the same process as every Canadian coming back.鈥�

Trudeau echoed the same message on Tuesday.

鈥淎ll quarantines and testing will be abided by because nobody is exempt from keeping Canadians safe,鈥� he said.

To enter Canada, passengers arriving by air must first show a negative PCR test within 72 hours of their departure flight. Once landing in the country, passengers are required to take an arrival test and quarantine for three nights in a designated government hotel or until they receive their result. If their test result is negative, passengers can check out, but must complete the remainder of their 14-day quarantine at an approved alternate location.

Garneau will be departing Canada for Iceland before he fulfills his mandatory quarantine period, but as , this is authorized under federal regulation so long as he remains in quarantine before leaving.

Trudeau has said he鈥檚 鈥�hopeful鈥� he鈥檒l be able to attend the G7 Leaders鈥� Summit in the U.K. next month.

On March 13, 2020 the federal government issued a global travel advisory to avoid non-essential international travel, which remains in place today.