On April 22, the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) announced changes to Canada's border measures for certain eligible travellers:
- All fully vaccinated travellers and travellers with a medical contraindication to a COVID-19 vaccine will no longer be required to provide a quarantine plan upon entry. This requirement will also be removed for children, ages 5-11, who are accompanied by a fully vaccinated parent, stepparent, guardian or tutor.
- Unvaccinated or partially vaccinated children, ages 5-11, who are accompanied by a fully vaccinated parent, stepparent, guardian or tutor, will no longer be required to complete a pre-entry COVID-19 test for entry to Canada. However, pre-entry tests will still be required for partially vaccinated or unvaccinated travellers, ages 12 and up, who are currently eligible to travel to Canada. Children under 5 years of age are not required to provide a COVID-19 test result.
In addition, fully vaccinated travellers arriving to Canada on or after April 25 will no longer be federally required to do the following for 14 days after arriving:
- mask while in public spaces;
- monitor and report if they develop signs or symptoms;
- quarantine if another traveller in the same travel group exhibits signs or symptoms or tests positive; and
- maintain a list of close contacts and locations visited.
PHAC reiterated that all travellers are still required to use ArriveCan (free mobile app or website) to provide mandatory travel information within 72 hours of their arrival to Canada and/or before boarding a plane or cruise ship destined for Canada, including:
- contact and travel information, and
- vaccination information and proof of vaccination (if applicable).
Fully vaccinated travellers who do not submit their information into ArriveCAN:
- won't be eligible for the fully vaccinated traveller exemption (i.e., they may have to submit a pre-entry test result and suitable quarantine plan, quarantine and undergo testing in Canada);
- may face additional delays at the border for public health questioning; and
- may be subject to fines or other enforcement action.
All travellers, regardless of vaccination status, must also continue to wear a mask throughout their entire travel, PHAC said.
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