Cross-border shoppers and travellers will once again face the requirement of a pre-arrival negative PCR test for trips of all durations from tomorrow (Dec. 21). This pre-arrival test must be taken prior to entering Canada.
For a brief period of three weeks, Canadians returning from short trips of less than 72 hours were not required to take the PCR tests after the federal government suspended the requirement at the end of Nov. But as of tomorrow this all changes.
The change in strategy is in response to the “significant risks and uncertainties presented by the spread of the Omicron variant in Canada and globally,” according to Jean-Yves Duclos, federal Minister of Health.
Travellers arriving in Canada by air also face more stringent requirements with increased on-arrival testing. “We went from a capacity to test 11,000 air travellers a day on Nov. 30 to 20,960 tests as of Dec. 16. The Government of Canada is working closely with airport authorities, airlines, and testing providers and many other partners to increase capacity at airports, manage traveller flow and to make sure that the testing protocol is as efficient as possible.”
“These measures, guided by prudence, are intended to reduce the transmission of the Omicron variant in Canada and to help provinces and territories slow community spread.”
On Dec. 15, the federal government advised Canadians to avoid non-essential travel outside of Canada at this time. Travel restrictions continue to change around the world and return options could become limited at any time, it said, adding “now is not the time to travel”.
If travel is necessary, all fully vaccinated travellers are asked to follow public health measures, including wearing a well-fitted and well-constructed mask, maintaining a list of contacts for the 14 days after entry to Canada, and exercising extra precautions by avoiding high-risk settings such as long-term care facilities. All returning unvaccinated travellers must continue to quarantine for 14 days.
All travellers arriving, by all modes of travel, must submit their information into ArriveCAN. To reduce the wait time to access a test and ease congestion at airports, travellers allowed to enter Canada are strongly encouraged to pre-register with the testing provider at their arrival airport prior to coming to Canada.
