Canada has taken the first steps to reopening its border for non-essential travel. Starting on September 7, 2021, the Canadian government plans to open Canada’s borders to any fully vaccinated traveler. The traveler must have completed a Canadian government approved vaccine at least 14 days prior to entering Canada.
As a test of this opening, fully vaccinated U.S. citizen and permanent resident non-essential travelers can expect to enter Canada starting August 9, 2021, provided said travelers have been vaccinated 14 days prior to entry. Further, most fully vaccinated travelers will not have to quarantine upon arrival in Canada, but a suitable quarantine plan is required.
All travelers must use ArriveCan, the Canadian government’s portal for travelers, to submit their travel information.
A pre-entry, negative COVID-19 test result is required for all travelers. A post entry COVID-19 test may be requested to randomly selected vaccinated travelers.
This is a significant shift in travel policy for the Canadian government. Up till now, the bar to clear in order to classify travel as “essential” across the Canadian-U.S. border, and thus be granted entry into Canada, was extremely high, but Canada has managed to keep the COVID-19 numbers low, with a 7-day average of under 1,000 new cases. Thus, the Public Health Agency of Canada announced it was “able to move forward with adjusted border measures.”
WR Immigration Partner, Vivian Zhu, weighed in on the shift, “As Canada manages to keep the COVID numbers low, the border opening seems to head in the right direction.” Zhu also noted that other countries have made similar decisions, “We have seen more and more countries (EU, for example) opening to vaccinated travelers while keeping the entry ban in place for travelers from certain ‘high risk countries.’”
Stay tuned to WR Immigration as countries around the globe continue to adapt COVID-related travel regulations to meet changing pandemic trends.
Details: Government of Canada announces easing of border measures for fully vaccinated travellers https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/news/2021/07/government-of-canada-announces-easing-of-border-measures-for-fully-vaccinated-travellers.html
