Canada reopens to double jabbed international travellers
Travellers who have had both vaccines no longer need an ‘essential reason’ to visit
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Your support makes all the difference.Canada is now open to fully vaccinated international travellers, who no longer need an “essential reason” to visit and will not have to quarantine on arrival.
This major change to the country’s travel rules was first announced on 19 July and came into effect at 12.01 this morning, with the Canadian government saying that the decision was “based on the latest available data, scientific evidence and epidemiological situation both in Canada and internationally”.
The country has been closed to much of the world since spring 2020, only recently opening up to fully vaccinated US citizens on 9 August.
Vaccinated travellers must have had their second injection 14 days before departure in order to enter the country, and be able to present proof of a negative PCR test result taken within the 72 hours before departure. Antigen test results are not accepted in Canada.
All three of the UK’s vaccines are approved by the country.
In a statement, the Canadian government said: “A traveller must have received, and show proof of, the full series of a vaccine — or combination of vaccines — accepted by the Government of Canada at least 14 days prior to entering Canada.
Currently, those vaccines are manufactured by Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca/COVISHIELD, and Janssen (Johnson & Johnson).”
Travellers must also use the ArriveCAN app to enter their proof of vaccination, negative test result and passenger locator information.
Canada was added to the UK’s green list for travel in the most recent government review on 26 August, meaning travellers do not have to quarantine on return to the UK, but must take a pre-departure test (PCR, LAMP or antigen/lateral flow test) before their flight home, as well as a day two test to be taken within the first couple of days after arrival.
The Canadian government have created a ‘Find out if you can enter Canada’ tool on its website, but the rules have been hugely simplified by today’s change.
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