Conditions for Exemptions of Fully Vaccinated Canadian Travellers

Effective July 5, 2021, the Canadian will go from no exemption to some exemptions for fully vaccinated travellers (from land or by air) who meet specific conditions. There are no exceptions for partially-vaccinated travellers from testing, hotel stopover or quarantine for travellers who haven’t received the full series of a vaccine or a combination of vaccines accepted by the Government of Canada.

Travel restrictions on who can enter Canada will continue to remain in place. We have written extensively about the existing restrictions, so this post will focus on the exemptions that come into force.

More details will be found on the Canadian government website, but here is a quick cheat sheet.

Requirements for Exemption

Travellers may qualify for certain exemptions to quarantine and testing requirements if they:

• are eligible to enter Canada
• are asymptomatic
• meet the Government of Canada requirements of fully vaccinated travellers (more details in the next paragraph)
• meet all other entry requirements, including entering your information in ArriveCAN before arrival

Fully Vaccinated

More specifically, to be considered fully vaccinated, they must:

• have received the full series of an accepted COVID-19 vaccine or a combination of accepted vaccines:
  • Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine
  • Moderna COVID-19 vaccine
  • AstraZeneca/COVISHIELD COVID-19 vaccine
  • Janssen (Johnson & Johnson) COVID-19 vaccine – single dose
• take a COVID-19 molecular test before your arrival to Canada
• have received your last dose at least 14 days prior to entering Canada
• upload your proof of vaccination in ArriveCAN (must use the most up-to-date version released on July 5 in the Google Play Store and the App Store for iPhone)

Exemptions

Those who meet the requirements mentioned above may be exempt from:

• 14-day quarantine
• Mandatory hotel stopover (for air travellers)
• Day-8 testing requirement

Travelling with Children or Dependents

There is a modified requirement when fully vaccinated parents are travelling with children (under 18 years old) or dependent adults who are not fully vaccinated, they:

• must quarantine for 14 days
• must follow all testing requirements (unless under the age of 5)
• are not required to stay at a government-authorized hotel

This looks to be the first step of loosening of travel rules. Hope to see more to come.