txp

Official announcement

Hi everyone,

Do you all interpret this announcement the same way I do -- Canadian citizens living in the US who are fully vaccinated can enter Canada for any reason (including travel) after July 6 without quarantine or other restrictions?

Thank you!

sydneyracquelle

Residency is irrelevant. I live in the US and have been to Canada every month since covid started. Cdn citizens and permanent residents no longer have to quarantine if they have proof of double vaccination at least 14 days old. This thread should be merged.

txp

Thank you. I assume that after July 6 they will let us in without quarantine even if the purpose of our visit is to go on vacation, correct?

ywgckp

Previously the rules were slightly different around quarantine if you lived with a health care worker, or lived with someone who was immunocompromised. I'm an oncologist and my wife's a physiotherapist.

I have read through the order in council - and the rules regarding quarantine haven't changed, at least to my read, other than an exemption from quarantine for eligible individuals. My understanding - I think I should be fine now to go back to work the next day after returning from international travel (assuming negative test, after July 6)? But my submitted quarantine plan (that I shouldn't have to use) should be somewhere other than my home, to avoid running into trouble at the border? Does anyone disagree?

newzenith1

I'm taking a day-trip from Vancouver to Seattle, and fly back next morning from Seattle to Vancouver. I understand I need to present negative COVID test result before boarding flights for both directions, but I wonder if I can use the same COVID test result I get in Canada and be allowed to board the return flight from US to Canada? Have anybody tried to do that? How was your experience?

sydneyracquelle

As stupid as it sounds Canada requires a test result taken in the U.S. I would love to see someone fined for this and go to court and the judge throw it out.

escape4

What if the itinerary is YYY-XXX on one ticket and XXX-Canada on the other ticket. I previously thought that the origin of the covid test had no relevance so if you present a covid test from YYY when checking in the flight in XXX on the second ticket, it's fine as long as it's less than 72 hours old.

escape4

Europe I am not surprised either, for the same reason as Canada; most if not all of the western world probably recognizes CDC card. However in other parts of the world I would not be surprised if some do not accept this.

sydneyracquelle

Tickets are irrelevant. My understanding is if you appear at any USA boarding gate for a flight to Canada you will need a USA covid test or the airline will be fined for bringing you into Canada so you likely will be denied boarding. Even if you were only gone from Canada for 1-2 days and your covid test was taken in Canada less than 72 hours prior to flight departure. If you show up at a land crossing they will likely give you a choice of going back to USA for a new test or giving you a $5,000+ fine. Sounds ridiculous but that’s my understanding.

EmailKid

I'm sure it's just awkward wording, but the airline won't be fined if someone shows up at a gate without a test

Now should the airline allow someone to fly to Canada without a test, then yes, I believe it's tens of thousands of dollars in fine. If they deny boarding, no fine

escape4

I asked a similar question to an Air Canada SE100k concierge. I am flying Turkey-Egypt on one ticket (TK), then Egypt-Canada-USA on another ticket (AC). I will have my covid test in Turkey, and I asked AC if when I show up at the airport in Egypt will they deny me boarding if my covid test is not from Egypt. The agent was clear: Canada has no rule about where the test must come from, the only thing that matters is the timing of it. Then they also called the AC operations manager in Egypt to re-confirm that I will not be denied boarding.

So it does not sound like Canada has such a rule and Egypt does not have this rule either. So perhaps it is a USA rule? I would guess when you speak of airline fines, it's not the USA which would fine AC for bringing people to Canada.

I realize my example is different than yours so there could be an explanation (maybe because my final destination is USA and yours is Canada?) but nonetheless it sounds like there might be a disconnect in the information we are getting.

newzenith1

Very helpful discussion here.

Hope to see someone else who explored / looked into this situation in the last few months.

sydneyracquelle Is there an official website from Canadian Government on the mandate that USA covid test needs to be presented at the USA boarding gate for Canada-bound flight?
The only link I was able to find is from travel DOT gc DOT ca (sorry cannot post link as I am new here: travel-covid/travel-restrictions/flying-canada-checklist/covid-19-testing-travellers-coming-into-canada )

But the text doesn't appear to state you have to get the USA covid test, just you may need to get that in your transit city. I interpret the wording means different consequences.

"

Pre-entry test requirements

All travellers 5 years of age or older, regardless of citizenship, must provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test result. You don't require a test to fly within Canada.

There are no exceptions for vaccinated travellers, at this time.

You must:

• take the test within 72 hours of the scheduled departure time of your flight to Canada
  • if you have a connecting flight:
    • the test must be conducted within 72 hours of the scheduled departure time of your last direct flight to Canada
    • you may need to schedule the test in your transit city
• provide one of the accepted types of tests, not an antigen test
• keep proof of your test results for the 14-day period that begins on the day you enter Canada

Airlines will refuse boarding to travellers who are unable to provide a valid molecular test result.
"

EmailKid

I have only followed US-Canada border crossing.

USA rule in that it applies to travel from US.

US does not care about leaving pax, so would not fine an airline. Canada does care, so they would be the one meting out the fines

escape4

Well if it's a rule from the Canadian government, then why does the rule appear to be different for passengers flying from USA to Canada vs from Egypt to Canada

Unless sydneyracquelle was given bad info, or I was given bad info. Or it's illogical and Canada has made a rule which differs from origin country.

emcampbe

I think you mean 'fully vaccinated'. J&J is used in the US and accepted by Canada, but only requires one shot to be fully vaccinated (plus 2 weeks of time after - though I think other countries may vary with the time after - I thought I saw maybe France requires 4 weeks after J&J shot to be considered 'fully vaccinated').

Canadian citizens can enter Canada without quarantine - reason for the visit should not matter - for that matter, even prior to July 6 Canadian citizens didn't need a specific reason they were entering, though you needed to quarantine. I think its pretty clear the rules are set to discourage a ton of folks from just coming to visit needlessly, but as long as you are willing to follow protocol (test prior to departure, show your vaccine proof to avoid quarantine, test after arrival, and submit your potential quarantine plan in ArriveCan), shouldn't matter.

Definitely sounds ridiculous, unless there is some difference in rules where the tests the US accepts are different than the ones Canada does. But if that's the case, that's silly...too.

No, of course the airline won't be fined if someone shows up at the gate without a test. But they enforce the rules at boarding so they don't let someone board without required test, where they can not only get fined, but also be forced to return said pax on the next flight back, to my understanding, even if they have to DB someone on said flight to get them on. The interesting question here, of course, would be, is if Canada denied someone entry due to no COVID test, and they were sent back to the airline to the next flight back to origin, since the US also requires said test, what happens? Do they go to some sort of holding, test there, and have to wait for the results? What if that test is positive and so they can't return to the US, either?

My guess is the airline personal are not going to be focusing on where any test was taken, and just want to see a negative result (and the receipt that you have uploaded necessary info. into ArriveCAN). That satisfies the main requirement that Canada should be looking for, and I'd guess as long as its the right kind of test (PCR, etc.) they'd just let you board. This is no different than enforcing other main entry requirements for boarding that they do on practically every international flight. Mostly (flights to Canada excepted, since its required) they don't do it because they 'have' to do it there, but because they don't want to get fined for carrying the pax and have to be responsible to bring them back.

I'd like to believe the Canadian folks on arrival would take the test result, assuming it was done in line with the time and type of test. I doubt whether they really care about whether it was done in YVR or SEA. Though these are Canadian officials, so who knows?