Canada eases travel restrictions on fully vaccinated international travelers: domestic

The federal government has added fully vaccinated foreign nationals to the ranks of travelers who are once again welcome on Canadian territory.

At midnight on Monday night, quarantine requirements were provided for non-essential international travelers who have had a full COVID-19 vaccine course approved by Health Canada.

To be eligible, travelers must have been allowed to spend at least 14 days since their last vaccination and demonstrate a negative molecular test of COVID-19 that does not exceed 72 hours of age.

They should also use the ArriveCAN app or online web portal to upload their vaccination data.

Denis Vinette, vice president of the Canada Border Services Agency’s travel branch, says the latest wave of vaccinated visitors comes mainly by air.

Vinette says this simplifies the agency’s problems, as airlines will monitor travelers to make sure they meet the criteria.

“The best thing about air is that you have the airline working with you, which will not allow people to access if they don’t meet all the requirements,” Vinette said in an interview. “The land border is a different beast.”

Canada has approved four COVID-19 vaccines: Pfizer-BioNTech, Modern, the Oxford-AstraZeneca trait, also known as Covishield, and the Johnson & Johnson single dose option.

Vinette said the agency will continue to conduct random tests of travelers at the border, a surveillance program that has been in place since the gradual process of easing travel restrictions began earlier this summer.

Between August 9 and 26, the positivity rate for randomly selected fully vaccinated travelers was 0.19% despite the increase in cases in both Canada and the United States.

“Although cases are currently rising in Canada, the severity of the disease and hospitalization rates remain manageable, as Canada’s vaccination rates continue to rise,” the agency said in a statement last week.

“This data, along with continued adherence to public health measures by Canadians and incoming travelers, means that Canada is better able to prevent outbreaks and can now allow more fully vaccinated incoming travelers without increasing the risk to the health and safety of Canadians. ”

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Direct flights from India and Morocco will remain suspended until at least later this month. Travelers from any country taking an indirect route to Canada will be required to submit a recent negative molecular test conducted in a third country.

Meanwhile, the United States continues to ban non-essential Canadian travelers from entering the country by land. Air and sea passengers are exempt, although passengers by rail, ferry and pleasure boat are not.

The United States has also maintained strict travel limits to several foreign countries, including China, India, Ireland, Iran, South Africa, Brazil, and the 26 European countries without border controls, known as the Schengen group.

However, the borders with Canada and Mexico are considered broadly included in a different category, in part due to the close trade links between the three countries, as well as the fact that visitors can arrive by land without the help of a private sector. . company as an airline or a cruise operator.

Constant restrictions in the United States have provided the agency with some sort of silver, though: since Canadians can’t cross the border to make short incidental trips or shopping trips, that means fewer people are trying to return. in Canada than might not be the case.

“In a normal year, all summer long, about 65% of our border crossings are what we call day hikers,” Vinette said.

“Currently, we only have one-way entry, so you don’t have Canadian hikers going to the United States and then coming back, which is an important part of our regular traffic volumes.”

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