Starting April 1: COVID tests no longer needed for Vaccinated Travelers

From next month, visitors who are fully vaccinated will not need to be tested for COVID-19 unless they are randomly selected for testing.

Partially or unvaccinated travellers over the age of five will still need a proof of COVID-19 test result prior to entering Canada.

Those include:

• A valid, negative antigen test, administered or observed by an accredited laboratory or testing provider, taken outside of Canada not more than one day before their scheduled flight departure time or arrival at the land border or marine port of entry;
• A valid negative molecular test taken no more than 72 hours before their initially scheduled flight departure time or their arrival at the land border or marine port of entry, or:
• A previous positive molecular test taken at least 10 calendar days and no more than 180 calendar days before their initially-scheduled flight departure time or their arrival at the land border or marine port of entry.

Positive antigen test results are not accepted.

Prior to arrival in Canada, all travellers, whether vaccinated or not, will also need to submit their mandatory information through the ArriveCAN app or website.

 The website of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) says that travelers who arrive without finishing their ArriveCAN submission may be tested upon arrival and quarantined for 14 days, regardless of their vaccination status.

“Travelers taking a cruise or boarding a plane must submit their information to ArriveCAN 72 hours before boarding.”

During an online press conference, Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos hinted that Canada’s travel restrictions could be either relaxed further or tightened in the coming months, based on the number of cases and the possible arrival of new strains.

Vaccines Recognized by Canada

To be considered fully vaccinated in Canada, one must have received the full series of a combination of these vaccines:

• Pfizer-BioNTech Comirnaty;
• Moderna Spikevax;
• AstraZeneca Vaxzevria/Covishield;
• Janssen/Johnson & Johnson;
• Bharat Biotech Covaxin;
• Sinopharm BIBP;
• Sinovac/CoronaVac/PiCoVacc, or;
• Novavax/Nuvaxovid/Covovax.

Currently, the last dose of these vaccines has to have been received at least 14 days before a traveller comes to Canada.