Travel restrictions are easing with many countries now allowing tourists in without needing an 'essential' reason.
France recently relaxed their covid travel rules meaning individuals who are fully vaccinated no longer need to take a covid test before their arrival.
And as Scotland also scrapped their pre-departure tests, travellers can now jet off without the need for taking a test through any part of their journey.
Now in an update, Canada's health minister announced their rules are also changing.
So what are the new covid travel rules for people entering Canada?
According to the Government of Canada website, as of February 28, 2022 travellers must do the following:
- Travellers arriving to Canada from any country, who qualify as fully vaccinated, will be randomly selected for arrival testing and must quarantine while awaiting their test result
- Children under 12 years old travelling with fully vaccinated adults will continue to be exempt from quarantine
- Unvaccinated travellers will continue to be required to test on arrival on day eight and quarantine for 14 days.
Unvaccinated foreign nationals will not be permitted to enter Canada unless they meet one of the few exemptions.
They add that travellers will now have the option of using a covid rapid antigen test result which must be taken less than 24 hours prior to their scheduled flight or arrival at the land border or marine port of entry.
Alternatively, they can take a molecular test result which must be taken no more than 72 hours before their scheduled flight or arrival at the land border or marine port of entry.
They warn: "Taking a rapid antigen test at home is not sufficient to meet the pre-entry requirement – it must be authorised by the country in which it was purchased and must be administered by a laboratory, healthcare entity or telehealth service."
Discussing the update the Honourable Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Health said: "“For two years now, our government’s actions in the fight against covid have been based on prudence and science. Today’s announcements are a reflection of the progress we have made against this current Omicron variant.
"The return to mandatory random testing of all vaccinated travellers will facilitate travel for Canadians all while helping our public health authorities to detect future changes in covid importation rates and variants of concern. As we have said all along, Canada’s border measures will remain flexible and adaptable, for potential future scenarios."
The Honourable Marco E. L. Mendicino, Minister of Public Safety added: "The health and safety of Canadians is our government’s top priority. Since the onset of this pandemic, we have taken practical and necessary steps to stop the spread of covid – and as the situation evolves, so does our response.
"I especially want to thank Canada Border Services Agency employees for their tireless work over the past two years. We always take action to secure our borders and protect our communities, because that’s what Canadians" expect.”
