The federal government has scrapped the pre-arrival COVID-19 testing requirement for all fully vaccinated travellers coming into Canada, taking another major step back to normalcy.
Fully Vaccinated Travellers
Starting April 1, fully vaccinated travellers coming into Canada by air, land, or water will no longer be required to take a PCR molecular test or an antigen test prior to departure.- AstraZeneca/COVISHIELD (ChAdOx1-S, Vaxzevria, AZD1222)
- Bharat Biotech (Covaxin, BBV152 A, B, C)
- Moderna (Spikevax, mRNA-1273) including for children aged 6 to 11 years
- Novavax (NVX-COV2373, Nuvaxovid, Covovax)
- Pfizer-BioNTech (Comirnaty, tozinameran, BNT162b2) including for children aged 5 to 11 years
- Sinopharm BIBP (BBIBP-CorV)
- Sinovac (CoronaVac, PiCoVacc)
All travellers are still required to submit their mandatory information through the ArriveCAN mobile app or on the Canadian government website before their arrival.
Partially Vaccinated Travellers
Pre-entry testing requirements have not changed for partially or unvaccinated travellers who are currently allowed to come to Canada. Unless otherwise exempt, all travellers aged 5 years and older who do not qualify as fully vaccinated must continue to provide the following accepted types of pre-entry COVID-19 test results:- A valid negative antigen test, administered or observed by an accredited testing provider, taken no more than one day before their scheduled flight departure time, or their arrival at the land border or marine port of entry.
- A valid, negative molecular test taken no more than 72 hours before their scheduled flight departure time, or their arrival at the land border or marine port of entry.
- A previous positive molecular test taken at least 10 calendar days and no more than 180 calendar days before their scheduled flight departure time, or their arrival at the land border or marine port of entry.
Travelling to Canada Between Now and April 1
Currently, travellers can come to Canada by land, air, or water regardless of their vaccination status if they are a Canadian citizen, a permanent resident of Canada, a person registered under the Indian Act, or a protected person such as a refugee.However, travellers who are symptomatic with COVID-19 and want to come to Canada by air, will have to present a valid pre-entry test result or a medical certificate to show that their symptoms are not related to COVID-19 before boarding a public flight.
Those travelling by land or water won’t be turned away at the land border, but may be fined $5,000 per person (plus surcharges). To avoid this fine, they will have to wait until at least 10 calendar days have passed after receiving a positive test result before entering Canada. The 10-day period starts the day following the day of testing.
If you are a foreign national who is not qualified as fully vaccinated, you may now only come to Canada under limited circumstances, such as being approved for entry for compassionate reasons (attending funerals, caring for or visiting critically ill person who is a Canadian resident, or other accepted statuses).
Random Testing on Arrival Continues After April 1
On Feb. 28, the government removed the on-arrival mandatory testing for fully vaccinated travellers, meaning that fully vaccinated travellers may be randomly selected for a COVID-19 molecular test upon arrival.This has not changed with the further removal of the pre-entry testing on April 1.
Travellers selected for this on-arrival random testing are not required to quarantine while awaiting their test result.
Duclos noted that while the government has dropped these testing requirements, they could be brought back later if the COVID-19 situation deteriorates again.
“Today’s announcement is encouraging, but let us remember that all measures are subject to review. We will continue to adjust them as the epidemiological situation evolves,” he said.