Bogwoppit

100% they are trying to discourage travel. There are no "test to release" private companies because that would not be what the government wants. I assume you are from the UK, based on your post, you have so many "day 2" options, ours must seems a bit ridiculous.

Amber2413

Yep, from UK, where you can get a arrival pcr test and results in 5 or 6 hours ( for a price of course!). I understand why the government want to discourage travellers, and to be honest we thought seriously about whether we should travel (triple vaccinated. We put ourselves in a mini lockdown and only left the house for work ( and wore ppe at work) for 2 weeks before coming.
I think arrival testing is a good idea, just can’t see how it is isn’t insanely frustrating for residents not to have options for quick release. And in the post above one person in the household was selected for testing, but the other free to go.. ermmmm?

But each government has their rules and their quirks, and as guests here, we must respect that.

Bogwoppit

You absolutely can get paid PCR tests here, with results in a few hours, but that is not what the government will accept for arrival testing. They control all arrival testing, hence ridiculously long waits etc.

I was in Scotland two weeks ago, for a family wedding that was put off for 18 months. I used various testing options over there, and it definitely made the trip easier, but the constant rule changes made it impossible for my husband to join me. Nowhere is perfect at this point. We all just struggle through to make things happen.

Travel is a bit of a roulette game these days, I have managed to make many trips work, but staying on top of each countries rules, and paperwork, becomes a part time job.

Amber2413

Got it in one. Haven’t had so many bits of paper for years!

gei

Completely disagree. It's important to point out when rules are stupid - you are not obligated to "respect" any pointless Covid theatre. The more people stand up to this nonsense, the faster it ends.

tcook052

Folks, let's please leave the larger political discussion to other threads in other forums and focus this thread on what the rules are and first-hand experiences from traveling FTers so that those members who come here for real-world information may find it.

Thanks,

tcook052
Canada forum moderator

spartacus81

Any issues after getting this code? I'm assuming this is what comes up now when you use the Canadian vaccine passport with a QR code (I just uploaded mine and got the "A").

TheCanuckian

No, no issues. The agent asked us nothing except whether we bought anything when away (though we did get sent to the randomized testing, which I expect was unrelated to the code).

TTC900Rocket

I got an "A", but no further questioning other than duration of visit and the amount of goods being declared.

zrh2yvr

Arrived YYC today (AC849). Frankly could not even see a testing centre even setup. We were not asked to test and I did not get a green sticker. We went out - - to the left - - then ducked into the connection desk corridor . and then out.

Will post details of our crazy PCR we did in the UK later - - as I almost think that if people knew what we did that it would somehow become disallowed eventually . . . . Glad to be here - - and now time to get on with the rest of the year!!!!

Is this testing starting to be scaled back? Is this a capacity thing? Biggest thing on welcome was minus 30 . . . .

Amber2413

Anyone considering travelling to Canada right now I would highly recommend cancelling. The Testing is a joke. I finally got my all clear after 76 hours. My husband has not had his yet… 79 hours and counting.

I have been told they test in random batches so you have no idea if you will get your result quickly or later on, and there is no guarantee that a family’s samples will get tested together.

Turns out the 48-72 hours is not from the time of test, but from 11.59pm on the day the test arrives at the lab.

JayArr

Arrived at YYZ at 8:30PM Monday Dec 27.

The first difference I heard was an announcement from the flight deck that passengers transiting YYZ to another Canadian city no longer have to pick up their bag at the carousel, maybe this isn't Covid related but it was new to me. AC was moving their bags to their next flight for them. I don't know how CBSA is inspecting those bags for contraband but this is definitely a time saver. There was no differentiation in exiting the plane, the "connections" passengers did not leave first.

Paperwork:
I had a negative PCR test from Barbados on my phone - was asked for it by AC in Bridgetown but not at CBSA.
I had the ArriveCan app all filled out and my Canadian Federal vaccination certification had been uploaded to it and 'verified' - was not asked for it by CBSA
AC in Bridgetown put a green sticker on my passport, I hoped that would allow me to bypass the testing line - it didn't.

The CBSA arrivals hall was empty and we walked directly up to a kiosk and put our passports in took pics and got our slip. Proceeded to an agent who asked about how long we were gone and what we bought then put a pink PHAC sticker on each of our passports.

Normally at this point I'm used to heading down the stairs to the baggage carousels even though I never check a bag. This time we stayed on the upper level and followed the signs to a small two or three lane security check. We did the usual laptop out, liquids out remove your belt dance and passed through and walked down a hallway came around a corner and a guy looked at our pink PHAC sticker and directed us into a line for testing. Luckily there weren't very many people, maybe 10 ahead of us, so this took only about 15 minutes. I will say that pre-registering with Switch Health did nothing to help, I asked if there was a separate line for pre-registered passengers and she gave me the blank look of a minimum wage employee and said back of the line. It seems that this helps Switch since we do the work of inputting all the data but it doesn't help us - just another corporation asking us to do it's work for them for free. After testing we were at the a place in the terminal where you go straight for domestic connections and right for US/INT connections and we proceeded straight (for YVR). A few short hallways later we found ourselves at top of the escalators that drop the domestic passengers from security down to the gate level (also where the Maple Leaf lounge is) at the base of the domestic spoke of T1. So we never really went out into the terminal.

That's it, we flew on to YVR and drove home and we're waiting for our test results. It's 4:30AM right now but I'm still on AST, We still haven't heard and it's been 31 hours.

mtbont

Here's a report on our experience with arrivals testing at YYZ. 4 of 6 in my group (all using NEXUS) were selected for random testing after landing on an international flight in the evening of Dec 26th at Terminal 1. Selection happened after we got our NEXUS printouts and saw the CBSA agents to make our declarations. Red stickers on passports for those to be tested, green ones for those not. Told a computer made the decision, not the CBSA agent. Got an information handout. Proceeded to baggage claim and cleared last customs checkpoint, then showed our passports and were sent over to line up at the arrivals testing area. Two lines, the left (and shorter) line was for travelers who had preregistered using the Switch Health website (can be done in line on your phone). Only one person in the group needs to have done this, the rest can be registered under that user as dependents. Line to reach a registration agent was maybe 5 minutes, then a few minutes for the agent to enter our passport and contact details into their system and give us each a labeled bag with a test swab. Then split up and sent to different testing stations, tested and told to expect results in 2-3 days. Took roughly 15 minutes from start of lining up until we were all through. Results back for first person in 38 hours from time of test, second person in 40 hours, third person in 44 hours and fourth person in 61 hours. All results negative.

dsc2

Arrived to YYZ T1 on Dec. 27th in the late evening from LAS on AC582, all I can say it was chaos.
First the pilot said only people with connections could deplane but after a few did, everyone just started heading forward. I was in business class and the poor flight attendant lost control, we got up and left but would of been in the first group anyway. Next was Nexus line, people without Nexus just lining up too, obviously walking right pass the machines. Lady in front of us, no Nexus but was processed until she was asked to show her ArriveCAN after saying she did it, but had not. So, off to another room for her....maybe a learned a lesson for lying to CBSA. Our experience was somewhat normal, did not have to show anything or our ArriveCAN QR so I guess they can see something on the screen if it completed. Another couple from the same flight, I guess had not fully completed ArriveCAN, so had to step aside to complete. We received one pink and one green sticker, but I knew to stay with my partner as we were directed towards PCR testing (pink sticker). Line was very long and you have to setup the SwitchHealth as you are walking with about a hundred people trying to do the same. I couldn't get the QR to scan on my phone and the girl helper couldn't either. She goes you don't have internet, which I do and said just see them at the end and they will help. Switched to my iPad and was able to scan and complete the account setup as we where getting to the end of the line. This is about 45 minutes since leaving customs. SwitchHealth worker takes my partner's passport enters some information and gives her the test kit. I asked about the SwitchHealth account I just setup and she says I don't need it, so I don't know if you do or don't but I have it to check testing results. Next was the test which went quickly, and out the door about hour and fifteen after customs.
Up until this the trip went pretty smoothly, a lot of uploading and answering questions but somewhat straightforward. At more than 48 hours have still not seen results.

JayArr

My experience conflicts with this. I uploaded a Federal QR code as proof of vaccination and I got an "I"