Earlier this week, the federal government announced that starting August 9, 2021, Canada plans to begin allowing entry to American citizens and permanent residents, who are currently residing in the United States, and have been fully vaccinated at least 14 days prior to entering Canada for non-essential travel.
Subject to limited exceptions, all travellers must use ArriveCAN (app or web portal) to submit their travel information. If they are eligible to enter Canada and meet specific criteria, fully vaccinated travellers will not have to quarantine upon arrival in Canada.
All travellers, regardless of vaccination status, will still require a pre-entry COVID-19 molecular test result. However effective August 9, 2021, the Government of Canada is adjusting its post-arrival testing strategy for fully vaccinated travellers. Using a new border testing surveillance program at airports and land border crossings, fully vaccinated travellers will not need a post-arrival test unless they have been randomly selected to complete a Day 1 COVID-19 molecular test. There are no changes to the mandatory testing requirements for unvaccinated travellers.
Further, with the advent of increased vaccination rates in Canada, declining COVID-19 cases and reduced pressure on health care capacity, the three-night government authorized hotel stay requirement will be eliminated for all travellers arriving by air as of 12:01 A.M. EDT on August 9. Fully vaccinated travellers who meet the requirements will be exempt from quarantine; however, all travellers must still provide a quarantine plan and be prepared to quarantine, in case it is determined at the border that they do not meet the necessary requirements. Unvaccinated or partially vaccinated travellers will still be required to quarantine upon arrival to Canada for a 14-day period. A full list of requirements for entry into Canada can be accessed here, https://travel.gc.ca/travel-covid.
Recently, it was announced that the U.S. land border will remain closed to non-essential travel until at least August 21, 2021. The CSA recognizes that the vast majority of Canadian snowbirds who travel to the United States do so with their Canadian vehicle. Despite this setback, the association continues to advocate for the safe reopening of the land border and we remain optimistic that the U.S. land border will be open by the fall.
We will be providing further updates as soon as new information is available.
