LAST UPDATED: October 1, 2022

NOTE: Recent and Upcoming Rule Changes are Highlighted in Yellow

Looking for up-to-date COVID-19 travel rules for snowbirds? We’ve created this one-stop, COVID travel rules guide to help snowbirds find the latest rules and information for travelling to the U.S. and Mexico, as well as to and from Canada.

The guide will be updated on a regular basis and will be current as of the LAST UPDATED date above.

As COVID travel rules continue to change and evolve, this new approach of centralizing and updating this information in one place will make it faster and easier for snowbirds to find all of the information they need, rather than our previous approach of publishing a new article every time a new rule or change was introduced.

As always, we will endeavour to update this guide as quickly and accurately as possible. However, we also encourage snowbirds to visit official government websites for the latest official COVID travel rules and guidelines, which can be found at the end of each country’s section below.

Canada

On October 1, 2022, at 12:01 am, the Government of Canada lifted all COVID-19 related travel rules. The rules for travellers are now as follows:

Vaccinations 

Travellers are no longer required to be vaccinated to enter Canada. Travellers are also not required to be vaccinated to board a plane or train within Canada.

Travellers are also not required to be vaccinated to board a cruise ship in Canada.

Travel to the U.S.: Please note that while travellers will no longer be required to be vaccinated to enter Canada, at this time the U.S. still requires travellers to be vaccinated to enter the United States.

COVID-19 Testing

• Pre-Arrival Testing: Travellers are no longer required to have a negative pre-arrival COVID test prior to entering Canada, regardless of vaccination status.
• On-Arrival Testing: Travellers are no longer required to take a COVID test upon arriving in Canada, regardless of vaccination status.
  
  In addition, random on-arrival testing for vaccinated travellers is no longer being conducted.
• Cruise Ships: Travellers are not required to have a negative pre-boarding COVID test to board a cruise ship in Canada.

Quarantine

Travellers entering Canada are no longer required to quarantine, regardless of vaccination status.

Masking

Masks are no longer required to board a plane or train within Canada and are no longer required on planes or trains arriving in Canada from other countries.

Masks are also no longer required in Canadian airports.

While masks are no longer mandatory, travellers are still strongly encouraged to wear masks on planes and trains to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission. 

ArriveCAN

Using ArriveCAN to submit your travel information is now optional for travellers entering Canada and is no longer mandatory.

Travellers who choose to use ArriveCAN are no longer required to submit proof of vaccination certificates, quarantine plans or pre-entry COVID test results.

While ArriveCAN is no longer mandatory, submitting your information through ArriveCAN in advance may expedite your entry into Canada. This feature is currently available to travellers arriving at Toronto Pearson, Vancouver, or Montréal-Trudeau international airports and will expand to the Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Billy Bishop Toronto City, Ottawa, Québec City, and Halifax international airports in the coming months.

Travel Advisories

COVID-19 related travel advisories are now issued on a country-by-country basis and advisory levels for most countries have been reduced to Level 1 (Exercise normal security precautions) or Level 2 (Exercise a high degree of caution) for fully vaccinated travellers.

The Global Level 3 COVID-19 Travel Advisory to avoid non-essential travel remains in effect for travellers who are NOT fully vaccinated.

You can find current Government of Canada travel advisory levels for individual countries and regions here.

Official Government of Canada Statement

You can find the Government of Canada's official statement on easing COVID-19 travel rules here.

United States

Vaccination Requirements

• Canadians age 18 years and older must be fully vaccinated to travel to the U.S. by air, land or sea. Canadians under 18 years of age are exempt from the requirement to be fully vaccinated.

Definition of “Fully Vaccinated”

According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”), travellers are considered “fully vaccinated” 2 weeks (14 days) after receiving:

• Your dose of an accepted single-dose COVID-19 vaccine, or
• Your second dose of an accepted 2-dose COVID-19 vaccine series, or
• Your second 2 doses of any “mix-and-match” combination of accepted COVID-19 vaccines administered at least 17 days apart

You can find a list of accepted COVID-19 vaccines from the CDC here, which includes AstraZeneca, Pfizer, Moderna, Janssen/J&J and others.

Required Proof of Vaccination

Travellers should use the standardized proof of vaccination documents available from your province or territory of residence, which are currently available from all provinces and territories

In addition to downloading your vaccine passport to your phone, travellers should print a physical copy of your vaccine passports to take with you in case you experience issues with your mobile device.

You can learn more about the status, availability and how to access standardized proof of vaccination documents in your province on the Government of Canada website.

COVID Testing & Quarantine Requirements

• Travel by Air: Canadians travelling to the U.S. by air are NOT required to take a pre-entry COVID test.
• Travel by Land or Sea: Canadians travelling to the U.S. by land or sea are NOT required to take a pre-entry COVID test
• Quarantine: Canadians travelling to the U.S. are not required to quarantine upon arrival in the United States.

Official U.S. Government Resources

• U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP)
• U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) – Proof of Negative COVID Test
• U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) – Travel to the United States

Mexico

Vaccination Requirements

Mexico does not currently require arriving travellers to be vaccinated or show proof of vaccination

COVID Testing & Quarantine Requirements

Mexico does not currently require arriving travellers to take pre-entry or arrival COVID tests and does not require travellers to quarantine upon arrival.

Other Destinations

If you are travelling to a destination other than the U.S. or Mexico, please check with your airline in advance of your departure for up-to-date information about your destination’s COVID-related entry, testing and quarantine requirements.