As of 12:01 a.m. EDT Monday, the first phase of easing travel restrictions has been implemented for Canadians.
By Maryam Razzaq
As of 12:01 a.m. EDT Monday, the first phase of easing travel restrictions has been implemented for Canada.
Fully vaccinated Canadians and permanent residents can now skip the 14-day quarantine period upon arrival to Canada. The Government of Canada has further outlined the travellers who are unvaccinated or partially vaccinated will still need to fulfil the current testing and quarantine requirements when entering Canada.
To be specific, the exemption announced today by the Government of Canada is only applicable to those with a Canadian citizenship or a Canadian permanent residency. The travellers exempt will need to be travelling for essential purposes and further, be required to test negative for COVID-19 within three days of travel. Eligible air travellers are also exempt from spending the first three days in Canada in a government-approved hotel. Travellers must continue to use the ArriveCAN app or web portal prior to their departure from Canada to input their vaccination details and to upload the results of a negative COVID-19 test within 72 hours of their departure time.
Canadians or those with permanent residency will need to complete a questionnaire before being allowed to enter Canada. Questionnaire questions will include:
- Declaring your citizenship or permanent residency
- If you are showing symptoms of COVID-19
- The reason for return your to Canada
The main exemptions for fully-vaccinate travellers are that there is no quarantine necessary, no mandatory government approved hotel stay and no COVID-19 testing on the eighth day of arrival.
For Canadians looking to enjoy the travel restrictions, it is important to:
- Ensure you are fully vaccinated, which means you must have received both doses for an accepted COVID-19 vaccine. This includes a combination of the Canadian approved doses: Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Janssen (Johnson & Johnson).
- Have received their second dose 14 days before entering Canada.
- Complete the pre-entry testing
- Travellers five and up will need to complete a COVID-19 test and provide evidence of a negative result (taken at least 72 hours before arrival to Canada).
- Prepare a quarantine plan, regardless of if one is exempt from the quarantine restrictions. Upon arrival to Canada, a government official will ask travellers for a quarantine plan. The quarantine plan must include a place to quarantine for 14 days with access to necessities and isolation from those outside of ones’ travel companions.
- Get COVID-19 tested upon arrive to Canada.
The travel restrictions between the Canada and United States border which restricts land travel between the countries with certain exemptions for essential workers, movement of trade and international students is set to expire on July 21. It is unclear whether this travel restriction will be eased.
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