Canada Banning Entry to Non-Residents

UPDATE- [11:55am PST] Quick update to the post. The travel ban is effective March 18, 2020.

I am writing this post as I am listening to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau making his announcement that effective March 18, 2020, all travellers who are not Canadian citizens or permanent residents will not be allowed entry into Canada. The exceptions include:

  • U.S. citizens
  • Diplomats
  • Crew members
  • Immediate family members of citizens

Furthermore, any one (including Canadians) who are displaying symptoms on COVID-19 will not be allowed to board a flight to return to Canada. Every passenger will complete a basic health assessment of based on guidelines from the Public Health Agency of Canada.

Only 4 airports will be accepting international travellers to funnel to the rest of the country. Those airports are:

  • Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ)
  • Vancouver International Airport (YVR)
  • Montréal–Trudeau International Airport (YUL)
  • Calgary International Airport (YYC)

Lastly, all passengers arriving from an international location will need to immediately self-isolate for 14 days.

From the Pointshogger family, everyone, please be safe!

8 Comments

  1. Hey,
    I have a friend who’s travelling from Korea – and she’s in the airplane right now, about to land in next 4 hours, and she’s not Canadian. Would that affect the travellers arriving today to Toronto Pearson Airport too?

  2. Oh man, thank you – your comment got me a relief. I’m so worried about it, and been researching to find the answer to as of when they will be putting that on action. Could you please provide where you got the information from?

    1. It might switch around by the time you read this. But for now, it is in the 6th paragraph of this new report:
      https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/cbsa-border-airports-screening-trudeau-covid19-coronavirus-1.5498866

      Here is a copy paste of the wording as well: “Trudeau also said as of March 18, international flights will be permitted to land only at the international airports in Montreal, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver, in order to enhance screening.”

  3. I see, but i believe the announcement regarding the date of March 18th only refers to the airports that Canada will support for external routes, but it really is not referring to a date of putting an action of all international travelers to be banned

    1. I’ll try to dig up more information. But at the end of the day, her airline will probably have more information. Either they allow people to board the flight or not. Either way, my recommendation is to find a way to board on the earliest flight possible back.

  4. Matt – thanks for your active response and insight, been a great help,
    and yes, if you find out anything more, please let me know!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.