Travellers crossing between Canada and the US will soon find the process much easier, as the Federal Government announced on September 26 that they will remove all COVID-19 related entry restrictions beginning on October 1.
The restrictions were set to lapse on September 30 unless Prime Minister Justin Trudeau chose to extend them further and much speculation occurred in the weeks immediately preceding the announcement, with The Globe and Mail as early as September 20 said that restrictions would not continue into October on the word of anonymous sources.
Now that the announcement has officially been made, passengers at border crossings like Osoyoos-Oroville will no longer have to provide proof of vaccination, undergo testing or quarantine upon their arrival, or monitor and report any symptoms they may develop while in Canada using the ArriveCan app.
Likewise, Transport Canada will remove the necessity for health checks and masks on plane and train trips, though wearing masks is still recommended, and cruise ships will no longer require pre-boarding COVID-19 tests and proof of vaccinations.
Provincial and Territorial governments may still retain their own restrictions separate from these border crossing rules, however, and travellers are always expected to follow local COVID-19 restrictions when traveling within the country.
Federal Minister of Public Safety Marco Mendicino said of the government’s decision, which follows their suspension of vaccination requirements for domestic travel in June, that their COVID-19 border measures “were always meant to be temporary” and that they are “making adjustments based on the current situation.”
Both Minister of Health Jean-Yves Duclos and Minister of Transport Omar Alghabra thanked the Canadians who “rolled up their sleeves to get vaccinated,” and Duclos encouraged the public to stay up to date with vaccinations and maintain public safety measures as Canada moves from fall into winter.
