Last Updated: July 21, 2021

On July 19^th, 2021, the government of Canada announced steps it will be taking to ease some COVID-19 related travel restrictions in the coming weeks.

Below is a summary of the new border measures announced on July 19^th:

UPDATE - July 21, 2021, 11:15 AM EST: U.S. land border to remain closed to Canadian travellers until at least August 21st.

Fully vaccinated U.S. travellers can enter Canada starting August 9^th

Beginning on August 9^th, 2021, Canada will begin allowing fully vaccinated U.S. citizens and permanent residents to travel to Canada by air and land for non-essential purposes - including leisure and visiting friends and relatives - provided they meet the following criteria:

• They must be fully vaccinated at least 14 days prior to arriving in Canada
• Have a paper or digital copy of their vaccination documentation in English or French (or certified translation, along with the original)
• The vaccine they received must be approved by Health Canada
• They must take a pre-arrival molecular COVID test within 72 hours prior to arriving in Canada with a negative test result
• They must provide travel details and a quarantine plan prior to arrival through the ArriveCAN app or website

U.S. travellers who meet these criteria will not be subject to quarantine or mandatory testing upon arrival, but may be subject to random testing upon arrival.

Canadians still can’t drive to the U.S. for non-essential purposes

While Canada announced new rules to allow fully vaccinated Americans to travel to Canada by land for non-essential purposes, the U.S. has not yet introduced similar rule changes that would allow fully vaccinated Canadians to travel to the U.S. by land for non-essential purposes.

It is unclear when the U.S. might announce these rule changes or what exactly they will look like. Accordingly, at this time, fully vaccinated Canadians are still not allowed to travel to the U.S. by land for non-essential purposes.

Snowbird Advisor is following this issue closely and will be providing updates when changes to this policy are announced.

Fully vaccinated International travellers can enter Canada starting September 7^th.

Beginning on September 7th, 2021, Canada will begin allowing fully vaccinated international travellers to travel to Canada for non-essential purposes, provided they meet the following criteria:

• They must be fully vaccinated at least 14 days prior to arriving in Canada
• Have a paper or digital copy of their vaccination documentation in English or French (or certified translation, along with the original)
• The vaccine they received must be approved by Health Canada
• They must take a pre-arrival molecular COVID test within 72 hours prior to arriving in Canada with a negative test result
• They must provide travel details and a quarantine plan prior to arrival through the ArriveCAN app or website

International travellers who meet these criteria will not be subject to quarantine or mandatory testing upon arrival, but may be subject to random testing upon arrival.

Penalties for providing false vaccination status information

A person who submits false information about vaccination status could be liable to a fine of up to $750,000 or six months imprisonment or both, under the Quarantine Act, or prosecution under the Criminal Code for forgery.

All travellers must still provide a molecular COVID test prior to arriving

All travellers, regardless of vaccination status, will still be required to take a pre-arrival molecular COVID test within 72 hours prior to arriving in Canada.

Testing on arrival and day 8 testing remain mandatory for all unvaccinated travellers entering Canada, but will not be required for fully vaccinated travellers.

No more hotel quarantine

On August 9^th, the government will also end its hotel quarantine program for all air travellers (travellers entering Canada by land were never subject to hotel quarantine requirements).  

However, unvaccinated travellers arriving in Canada will still be subject to a mandatory 14-day quarantine.

More airports now able to receive international flights on Aug. 9

In addition to these new measures, beginning on August 9^th, Transport Canada will allow 5 additional airports to resume international flights.

Currently, the only airports open for international flights are Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and Montreal.

Effective Aug. 9, the following airports will also be permitted to resume international flights: Halifax, Quebec City, Ottawa, Winnipeg and Edmonton.

Rules still subject to change

Travellers should be aware that the Canadian government also stated that these new rules will only come into effect “provided that Canada’s COVID-19 epidemiology remains favourable” and “Border measures also remain subject to change as the epidemiological situation evolves”, which indicates that the government may delay or revise these rules if the COVID situation worsens.

No change to travel advisories yet

The government is not yet making any changes to its travel advisory levels at this time and still advises Canadians to avoid all non-essential travel abroad and not to travel on cruises.

More information

You can find more information about these new changes to Canada’s COVID travel restrictions on the Government of Canada website here.