For more than a year and a half, Canada has kept its doors closed to most non-essential foreign travellers. But that changes today when the federal government opens our border to fully vaccinated Americans. The government will also loosen several travel restrictions that apply to Canadians returning home from abroad.
In a continuation of its phased reopening of the border, starting today, the government will allow fully vaccinated Americans to both enter Canada and skip the mandatory 14-day quarantine. But before eager Americans pack their bags, they should make sure they meet all requirements, said Denis Vinette, vice-president of the Canada Border Services Agency's COVID-19 border task force. "People need to know what their obligations are," he said.
First, to be considered fully vaccinated, Americans must have received all required doses of a Health Canada-approved COVID-19 vaccine 14 days prior to entering Canada. Second, only U.S. citizens and permanent residents residing in and travelling from the United States will be permitted entry. And, just like Canadian travellers, Americans must submit their travel information — including vaccination documents — using the ArriveCAN app or by registering online within 72 hours before their arrival. Travellers entering Canada on Monday, however, should wait until that day to submit their information, because the government is launching a new version of the app at 12:01 a.m. ET on Monday.
Although they get to skip quarantine, all fully vaccinated travellers entering Canada must still provide proof of a negative COVID-19 molecular test taken within 72 hours of arrival. Air passengers need to take the test within 72 hours of the scheduled departure time of their final direct flight to Canada. However, come Monday, vaccinated travellers will get to skip the government-administered post-arrival COVID-19 test — unless they're randomly selected to take it. "It will be a mandatory random-testing regime," said Vinette. "This surveillance program will allow us to be able to determine, based on the sampling of a pool size, what are the potential risks … in terms of travellers who've been vaccinated who may still be carrying COVID."
Fully vaccinated travellers entering Canada will be able to skip the mandatory post-arrival COVID-19 test — unless they're randomly selected to take it. Fully vaccinated travellers who test positive for COVID-19, or who fail to meet Canada's vaccination requirements, have two choices: They can either quarantine for 14 days or return to the country from which they departed. "If you drove into Canada, [you can] drive back out of Canada, back into the United States," Vinette said.
This has been excerpted from the 9 August 2021 edition of CBC News.