Canada Plans to Ease Covid Travel Restrictions for Fully Vaccinated Visitors

After the country announced a “phased easing” of its border regulations earlier this month, fully vaccinated travelers will no longer require a PCR test to enter Canada.

On 28th February, fully vaccinated passengers will be able to meet entrance requirements with a quick Covid antigen test (taken no more than 72 hours before their booked trip) or a molecular test (taken no more than 72 hours before their scheduled flight).

Antigen tests conducted at home, according to the Canadian Public Health Agency, are “insufficient” to meet the pre-entry requirements and must be administered by a “laboratory, healthcare establishment, or telemedicine provider.”

Recent Covid statistics showed that the Omicron variant’s peak in Canada had passed and that it was time to “transition towards a more sustainable strategy to long-term control of Covid-19,” according to the agency.

Travelers will be “randomly picked” for testing upon arrival in Canada, but they will not be obliged to quarantine while waiting for their test results.

The quarantine will continue to apply to children under the age of 12 who travel with fully vaccinated adults.

It was time, according to recent Covid statistics, to “transition into a more sustainable strategy to long-term control of Covid-19,” and that the Omicron variant’s peak in Canada had passed.

Upon arriving in Canada, travelers will be “randomly selected” for testing, but they will not be required to quarantine while waiting for their results.

Children under the age of 12 who travel with fully vaccinated adults will continue to be subject to quarantine.

Unvaccinated foreign citizens would not be allowed to enter Canada unless they qualify for an exemption, and unvaccinated travelers will still be required to test on arrival, on Day 8 and for 14 days in quarantine.

The government of Canada will reduce the level of its travel health warning from 3 to 2 – implying that it will no longer advise Canadians to avoid travel for non-essential reasons.

Transport Canada will also lift its present flight limitations on 28th February at 16:00 EST, allowing foreign passenger flights to all Canadian airports.