PCR Testing No Longer Required to Enter Canada

Effective today, April 1, 2022, eligible travellers entering Canada will no longer need proof of negative Covid-19 test result on a PCR nor antigen COVID-19 test.

Eligibility to Waived Testing Requirement

Fully vaccinated travellers will no longer need to complete pre-arrival test (which includes the molecular COVID-19 test or an antigen test) to get into Canada by land, air or water.

Fully Vaccinated – Accepted Vaccines

To qualify as fully vaccinated, the traveller have received:

• at least 2 doses of a vaccine accepted by the Government of Canada for the purpose of travel
• or a mix of 2 accepted vaccines
• or at least 1 dose of the Janssen/Johnson & Johnson vaccine

at least 14 calendar days prior to travel.

The accepted vaccines are the following:

• AstraZeneca/COVISHIELD (ChAdOx1-S, Vaxzevria, AZD1222)
• Bharat Biotech (Covaxin, BBV152 A, B, C)
• Janssen/Johnson & Johnson
• Moderna (Spikevax, mRNA-1273) including for children aged 6 to 11 years
• Novavax (NVX-COV2373, Nuvaxovid, Covovax)
• Pfizer-BioNTech (Comirnaty, tozinameran, BNT162b2) including for children aged 5 to 11 years
• Sinopharm BIBP (BBIBP-CorV)
• Sinovac (CoronaVac, PiCoVacc)

Remaining Requirements

That being said, not all requirements have been dropped.

Testing

Unvaccinated or partially vaccinated Canadian travellers must still get tested prior to arrival into Canada. Furthermore, random testing will still be in effect for incoming travellers, regardless of vaccination status. However, there is no longer a need to quarantine while awaiting test results.

Conversely, when leaving Canada, testing requirements may still be in effect depending on which country you are travelling to, because that country may still have arrival testing requirements.

ArriveCan App

The ArriveCAN app requirement is still in effect. Basically, anyone entering Canada (including fully vaccinated travellers) must complete a questionnaire on the App within 72 hours before entering Canada. This goes along with uploading proof of vaccination.

The App is still in force because anyone exhibiting symptoms will still not be allowed to enter Canada.

Thoughts

It is nice to see some more travel restrictions loosing up. I was worried that when the announced the drop in testing requirements on March 17, 2022, they could have scaled it back before April 1, 2022, since it is currently coinciding with an uptick in cases and hospitalizations. Glad they did not end up clawing back any of the announcements.

Either way, this really eases a big burden for travelers for the moment. Hope we continue to see more restrictions being dropped well into the spring, leading into the summer months.