On July 5, the Canadian government eased quarantine requirements for fully vaccinated travellers Canada (see http://www.kranclaw.com/2021/06/are-we-there-yet-canada-beings-easing-of-travel-restrictions/). However, that did not change who was authorized to travel to Canada – discretionary travel was still prohibited.
Now the government has announced that fully vaccinated travellers may begin entering Canada, even for discretionary purposes (e.g. tourism). The allowance will be phased in as follows:
- As of August 9, Canada will permit fully vaccinated US citizens and permanent residents residing in the United States (the full vaccination must have occurred at last 14 days prior to entry).
- As of September 7, this same allowance will be afforded to travellers from any source country.
Some details which travellers should be aware of:
- Travellers must still use the ArriveCAN app, and will need to upload evidence of their vaccination.
- Effective August 9, five additional airports will be available for travel to Canada (in addition to the four previously authorized – Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, and Vancouver). They are:
- Halifax (Stanfield)
- Quebec City (Jean Lesage)
- Ottawa (Macdonald-Cartier)
- Winnipeg (James Armstrong Richardson)
- Edmonton
- All travellers still require a pre-entry COVID-19 test (within the 72 hours prior to travel), and will no longer need a post-arrival test (unless randomly selected).
- The hotel quarantine requirement for air travellers is also being eliminated effective August 9.
- All travellers should still have a quarantine plan in the event that it is determined at the port of entry that they do not meet the exemptions.
It should be recognized that none of the new provisions change the situation for non-vaccinated travellers.
The information in this article is for general purposes only, and not intended as legal advice for any particular situation.