Canada Is Dropping its COVID Test Requirement for Vaccinated Visitors

Starting April 1, Canada will no longer require that fully vaccinated inbound travelers provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test in order to avoid quarantine. 

Fully vaccinated travelers may still be required to undergo testing upon arrival if they are randomly tested, but they are not required to quarantine while awaiting their test results. 

Unvaccinated, or partially vaccinated, travelers aged 5-years and up will still need to get tested before travel with either an antigen test administered by an accredited lab taken within 24-hours of arrival or a negative molecular test taken within 72 hours of arrival. A previous positive molecular test taken at least 10 calendar days, and no more than 180 calendar days, before their departure time is also accepted. 

All travelers, vaccinated or not, will still need to go through the steps on the ArrivaCAN app before their arrival. Not doing so could result in a forced quarantine for up to 14 days. 

In a statement, Canada’s Minister of Health Jean-Yves Duclos said that the country’s high vaccination rate, and decreased hospitalizations, are allowing the change to be made. 

“Adjustments to Canada’s border measures are made possible by a number of factors, including Canada’s high vaccination rate, the increasing availability and use of rapid tests to detect infection, decreasing hospitalizations and growing domestic availability of treatments for COVID-19. As vaccination levels and healthcare system capacity improve, we will continue to consider further easing of measures at the borders—and when to adjust those measures—to keep the people in Canada safe.”

The move continues a string of good news in recent weeks for the international travel industry as countries continue to wind down measures at the border. The most recent one was New Zealand, which announced on Wednesday that starting on April 12, New Zealand will allow vaccinated travelers from Australia to enter without quarantine, in time for that country’s school holidays. 

A few weeks later, on May 1, vaccinated tourists from countries that do not need a visa, including Canada and the United States, will then be allowed to enter. 

Other countries to wind down border measures include the United Kingdom, which will end the last of its COVID travel rules this week, Ireland, which fully returned to normal earlier in May, Puerto Rico, Hawaii, and more.