Canada Drops Vaccinated Traveller Covid-19 Testing Protocols

In an announcement made on April 1, the Canadian government said that passengers who are completely vaccinated will no longer be required to show a negative coronavirus test before entering the country.

Officials said that fully vaccinated visitors may still be needed to undergo a COVID-19 molecular test upon arrival if they are selected for obligatory random testing, but they will not be compelled to quarantine while awaiting test results, according to the officials.

Prior to April 1, visitors to Canada must still have a valid pre-entry test certificate.

In a statement, Canadian Minister of Health Jean-Yves Duclos said that “adjustments to Canada’s border measures are made possible by a number of factors, including Canada’s high vaccination rate, the increasing availability and use of rapid tests to detect infection, decreasing hospitalizations, and growing domestic availability of treatments for COVID-19.”

“As vaccination rates rise and the capacity of the healthcare system grows, we will continue to evaluate additional relaxing of border security measures-and when to change those measures-in order to keep Canadians safe,” Duclos said.

Partially or completely unvaccinated travelers five years of age and older must still present an acceptable type of pre-entry COVID-19 test, which includes antigen tests taken no more than one day before departure, molecular tests taken no more than 72 hours before arrival, or proof of recovery, in addition to the proof of recovery.

Travelers who arrive without having completed their ArriveCAN submission may be subjected to a pre-arrival test and a 14-day quarantine, regardless of whether or not they have received their vaccinations.