One month after opening to fully vaccinated Americans, fully vaccinated international travellers are permitted to enter Canada by air, land or water without quarantine beginning at 12:01 am EDT on 07SEP.
The Canada Border Services Agency issued a Travel Advisory just prior to the border reopening for non-essential travel providing updated guidelines.
Despite a ‘4th wave’ of the pandemic, spurred on by the delta variant, the CBSA says that even “as the volume of travellers (to Canada) has increased in recent months, the border test positivity rate has remained low”. The government of Canada "can now allow more incoming fully vaccinated travellers without increasing the risk to the health and safety of Canadians."
While fully vaccinated international travellers are now permitted into Canada without an apparent increase in risk of the virus to Canadians, the CBSA advisory reiterates that Canadians themselves remain under government guidance to avoid non-essential travel outside the country, saying that, "international travel increases your risk of exposure to COVID-19 and its variants, as well as of spreading it to others."
As for today's reopening, admissible international arrivals to Canada must be fully vaccinated, with their final shot of a Health Canada-approved vaccine more than 14 days prior to arrival. They must arrive with a negative molecular test and be asymptomatic. Arriving pax must use the ArriveCAN app to present their documentation, and they may be selected for a test on arrival.
International arrivals who have the right to enter Canada but who are not fully vaccinated are still subject to full, triple testing (pre-arrival, arrival and Day 8) and quarantine.
In addition, the bans on direct passenger flights from both India and Morocco remain intact until at least 21SEP and 29SEP respectively.
Hurry Up and Wait
Meanwhile, Canada’s largest airport warned that the longer wait times that have plagued airline passengers in recent weeks may get even worse now that Canada’s borders are open to the world.
"We do expect to see an increase in international travellers as a result of this change, and we'll continue working with our agency partners and airlines to best manage the flow of passengers," the GTAA said, advising travellers to be prepared for the arrivals process to take three hours or longer with the new screening measures now in place.
CBC reports that, in the week leading up to today’s reopening of the border, YYZ was already the busiest it has been since the pandemic began.
The increase in numbers along with new screening measures have “led to delays and the holding of passengers on planes and in waiting areas within terminals.”
"These delays primarily occur during peak international arrival periods that begin as early as midday and run until late evening. We are working closely with airport partners to maintain a safe and efficient operation," a representative of the GTAA said.
