Canada To Relax COVID-related Travel Restrictions

The Canadian government is further opening its borders to fully vaccinated U.S. travelers to enter the country beginning August 9, calling the move a “first step” before permitting entry to other international travelers on September 7.

Travelers must have completed a full course of vaccination with a Canadian government-approved vaccine at least 14 days before entering and must use the ArriveCAN portal to submit travel information. Eligible travelers then would not have to quarantine upon arrival. Passengers are still required to have a negative COVID-19 molecular test result before arrival but will need a post-arrival test only if randomly selected. The mandatory testing requirements remain unchanged and other restrictions remain in place for unvaccinated travelers. Currently, only essential travelers are permitted to cross the border. Crews are already exempt from testing and quarantine rules.

Transport Canada is expanding its Notam that currently directs scheduled international commercial passenger flights into four airports: Montréal-Trudeau, Toronto Pearson, Calgary, and Vancouver. As of August 9, international flights will also be permitted at Halifax Stanfield, Québec City, Ottawa, Winnipeg, and Edmonton.

The government said the phased lifting of entry restrictions enables it to “fully operationalize the adjusted border measures ahead of September 7.” However, it advised Canadian residents to avoid non-essential travel outside Canada, given that the virus and vaccination coverage varies around the world.