Canada officials say vaxx req for visitors, random testing to end by 30 Sept.2022
Aug 2, 2021, 9:27 pm
#1441
Join Date: Jan 2014
Programs: Mileage plus
Posts: 106
Nearly six months after starting this thread, and after nearly six months away from home, I finally returned home last Thursday (well, specifically I landed in Canada on Thursday).
FRA YUL YYC
FRA-YUL was 1h delayed leaving, waiting for connecting passengers; flight was boarded by bus in FRA (ugh) possibly due to aircraft arrival as a cargo-only flight. We gained some time flying, so we were slightly over 30 minutes late on the gate in Montreal. Concierge was waiting for us in jetbridge. There were many flights that had arrived at the same time, but we didn't have to wait on the aircraft nor before customs hall. NEXUS machines did not work (second time in YUL with this issue, not sure why) so we had to go to standard kiosks. Some waiting but not terrible, in the meantime I did notice that the top was backed up and they weren't letting people down. Officer inspected vaccination records (given that the EU Passport doesn't show date of first dose, I downloaded 1st and 2nd dose documents from the e-health portal) and the Covid test.
Baggage delivery was a huge mess, most people from the flight had not been processed through immigration, so the belt got stuck, priority bags were far from first, etc. By this time it was T-20 to our YYC departure, so we knew we had missed it. Line to exit customs was through the entire YUL baggage hall (that's a VERY long line), NEXUS was still to the right. Officers did ask whether we had NEXUS and why we didn't use it (different receipt printout, obviously), but didn't protest further. Then we got the connection test kit, went to concierge office to rebook (for the next day) and got vouchers for the Marriott in-terminal. Quite hilarious we were staying at the same Marriott that would have cost us 1500 CAD for the one-night stay a few weeks earlier. Did the "at-home" tests at the Marriott, decided on Uber for pickup as I thought that would be easier than Purolator to the hotel (plenty of experience with missed courier deliveries, etc.) but it then turned out Uber does not pick up packages at the airport (who knew?). We were going into town anyways, so I took the tests with me. Tried to order Uber pickup in town and it wanted to charge me the $50 for delivery. Resigned, I walked to a Purolator store where I was told they did not accept these boxes, that they're not allowed to and I'm "not supposed to be there". Not sure what that was about. Finally I figured out that with my Uber profile set to "business" it wasn't applying the voucher, but it worked on personal. Got the results back two days later.
YUL was a disaster the next morning, a huge lineup to wait for the aggravating & pointless temperature check before security, no priority/NEXUS. Crowds everywhere. Terrible service on YUL-YYC to top it off, but I was home after six months.
BTW I'm also getting the ArriveCAN symptom notifications/emails, which I'm ignoring. I will also get to test out leaving and possibly re-entering Canada within the initial 14 day period. Wish me luck.
FRA YUL YYC
FRA-YUL was 1h delayed leaving, waiting for connecting passengers; flight was boarded by bus in FRA (ugh) possibly due to aircraft arrival as a cargo-only flight. We gained some time flying, so we were slightly over 30 minutes late on the gate in Montreal. Concierge was waiting for us in jetbridge. There were many flights that had arrived at the same time, but we didn't have to wait on the aircraft nor before customs hall. NEXUS machines did not work (second time in YUL with this issue, not sure why) so we had to go to standard kiosks. Some waiting but not terrible, in the meantime I did notice that the top was backed up and they weren't letting people down. Officer inspected vaccination records (given that the EU Passport doesn't show date of first dose, I downloaded 1st and 2nd dose documents from the e-health portal) and the Covid test.
Baggage delivery was a huge mess, most people from the flight had not been processed through immigration, so the belt got stuck, priority bags were far from first, etc. By this time it was T-20 to our YYC departure, so we knew we had missed it. Line to exit customs was through the entire YUL baggage hall (that's a VERY long line), NEXUS was still to the right. Officers did ask whether we had NEXUS and why we didn't use it (different receipt printout, obviously), but didn't protest further. Then we got the connection test kit, went to concierge office to rebook (for the next day) and got vouchers for the Marriott in-terminal. Quite hilarious we were staying at the same Marriott that would have cost us 1500 CAD for the one-night stay a few weeks earlier. Did the "at-home" tests at the Marriott, decided on Uber for pickup as I thought that would be easier than Purolator to the hotel (plenty of experience with missed courier deliveries, etc.) but it then turned out Uber does not pick up packages at the airport (who knew?). We were going into town anyways, so I took the tests with me. Tried to order Uber pickup in town and it wanted to charge me the $50 for delivery. Resigned, I walked to a Purolator store where I was told they did not accept these boxes, that they're not allowed to and I'm "not supposed to be there". Not sure what that was about. Finally I figured out that with my Uber profile set to "business" it wasn't applying the voucher, but it worked on personal. Got the results back two days later.
YUL was a disaster the next morning, a huge lineup to wait for the aggravating & pointless temperature check before security, no priority/NEXUS. Crowds everywhere. Terrible service on YUL-YYC to top it off, but I was home after six months.
BTW I'm also getting the ArriveCAN symptom notifications/emails, which I'm ignoring. I will also get to test out leaving and possibly re-entering Canada within the initial 14 day period. Wish me luck.
arriving from Mex tomorrow, flying to CDG next monday…
Aug 2, 2021, 9:34 pm
#1442
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: YYC - not the centre of the universe
Programs: AC*S100K 1MM, LH FTL, Hyatt Globalist, Accor Plat
Posts: 4,768
pleasure Perhaps the CBSA officers are (getting) accustomed to the EU Vaccine Certificate but technically it does not fulfil the requirements. I would screenshot the app you are referring to and print that out (in English) with the backup Portuguese and of course the certificate as well. In this case too much documentation cannot hurt, because the alternative is a 2-week quarantine + hotel stay for $$$.
lcohen999 I would simply lie. Lots of these things are outdated, just like the masking and social distancing signs here in AB (quite a shock to somebody coming from Europe!). If you don’t want to lie, I think some of the airport tests don’t ask you the 14-day question or you can do one of the virtual tests referred to a few pages back.
lcohen999 I would simply lie. Lots of these things are outdated, just like the masking and social distancing signs here in AB (quite a shock to somebody coming from Europe!). If you don’t want to lie, I think some of the airport tests don’t ask you the 14-day question or you can do one of the virtual tests referred to a few pages back.
Aug 2, 2021, 9:34 pm
#1443
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: YYC - not the centre of the universe
Programs: AC*S100K 1MM, LH FTL, Hyatt Globalist, Accor Plat
Posts: 4,768
Aug 3, 2021, 12:52 am
#1444
Join Date: Feb 2021
Posts: 117
If you wait until Monday, you won't have to stay at a hotel for 3 days.
Aug 4, 2021, 2:36 pm
#1447
Join Date: Dec 2017
Location: YXU
Programs: AC SE100K, Marriott Bonvoy Titanium Elite, IHG Platinum Elite
Posts: 326
Aug 4, 2021, 5:05 pm
#1448
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Atlanta
Posts: 5,182
I was asked if I had tested positive for covid in the prior 14 days. Not if I was under quarantine. And TSA in Canada takes your temperature at security. USA does not.
Last edited by sydneyracquelle; Aug 4, 2021 at 6:20 pm
Aug 5, 2021, 4:27 am
#1450
Join Date: Jun 2010
Location: MEX
Programs: AC E75K
Posts: 4,171
Nearly six months after starting this thread, and after nearly six months away from home, I finally returned home last Thursday (well, specifically I landed in Canada on Thursday).
FRA YUL YYC
FRA-YUL was 1h delayed leaving, waiting for connecting passengers; flight was boarded by bus in FRA (ugh) possibly due to aircraft arrival as a cargo-only flight. We gained some time flying, so we were slightly over 30 minutes late on the gate in Montreal. Concierge was waiting for us in jetbridge. There were many flights that had arrived at the same time, but we didn't have to wait on the aircraft nor before customs hall. NEXUS machines did not work (second time in YUL with this issue, not sure why) so we had to go to standard kiosks. Some waiting but not terrible, in the meantime I did notice that the top was backed up and they weren't letting people down. Officer inspected vaccination records (given that the EU Passport doesn't show date of first dose, I downloaded 1st and 2nd dose documents from the e-health portal) and the Covid test.
Baggage delivery was a huge mess, most people from the flight had not been processed through immigration, so the belt got stuck, priority bags were far from first, etc. By this time it was T-20 to our YYC departure, so we knew we had missed it. Line to exit customs was through the entire YUL baggage hall (that's a VERY long line), NEXUS was still to the right. Officers did ask whether we had NEXUS and why we didn't use it (different receipt printout, obviously), but didn't protest further. Then we got the connection test kit, went to concierge office to rebook (for the next day) and got vouchers for the Marriott in-terminal. Quite hilarious we were staying at the same Marriott that would have cost us 1500 CAD for the one-night stay a few weeks earlier. Did the "at-home" tests at the Marriott, decided on Uber for pickup as I thought that would be easier than Purolator to the hotel (plenty of experience with missed courier deliveries, etc.) but it then turned out Uber does not pick up packages at the airport (who knew?). We were going into town anyways, so I took the tests with me. Tried to order Uber pickup in town and it wanted to charge me the $50 for delivery. Resigned, I walked to a Purolator store where I was told they did not accept these boxes, that they're not allowed to and I'm "not supposed to be there". Not sure what that was about. Finally I figured out that with my Uber profile set to "business" it wasn't applying the voucher, but it worked on personal. Got the results back two days later.
YUL was a disaster the next morning, a huge lineup to wait for the aggravating & pointless temperature check before security, no priority/NEXUS. Crowds everywhere. Terrible service on YUL-YYC to top it off, but I was home after six months.
BTW I'm also getting the ArriveCAN symptom notifications/emails, which I'm ignoring. I will also get to test out leaving and possibly re-entering Canada within the initial 14 day period. Wish me luck.
FRA YUL YYC
FRA-YUL was 1h delayed leaving, waiting for connecting passengers; flight was boarded by bus in FRA (ugh) possibly due to aircraft arrival as a cargo-only flight. We gained some time flying, so we were slightly over 30 minutes late on the gate in Montreal. Concierge was waiting for us in jetbridge. There were many flights that had arrived at the same time, but we didn't have to wait on the aircraft nor before customs hall. NEXUS machines did not work (second time in YUL with this issue, not sure why) so we had to go to standard kiosks. Some waiting but not terrible, in the meantime I did notice that the top was backed up and they weren't letting people down. Officer inspected vaccination records (given that the EU Passport doesn't show date of first dose, I downloaded 1st and 2nd dose documents from the e-health portal) and the Covid test.
Baggage delivery was a huge mess, most people from the flight had not been processed through immigration, so the belt got stuck, priority bags were far from first, etc. By this time it was T-20 to our YYC departure, so we knew we had missed it. Line to exit customs was through the entire YUL baggage hall (that's a VERY long line), NEXUS was still to the right. Officers did ask whether we had NEXUS and why we didn't use it (different receipt printout, obviously), but didn't protest further. Then we got the connection test kit, went to concierge office to rebook (for the next day) and got vouchers for the Marriott in-terminal. Quite hilarious we were staying at the same Marriott that would have cost us 1500 CAD for the one-night stay a few weeks earlier. Did the "at-home" tests at the Marriott, decided on Uber for pickup as I thought that would be easier than Purolator to the hotel (plenty of experience with missed courier deliveries, etc.) but it then turned out Uber does not pick up packages at the airport (who knew?). We were going into town anyways, so I took the tests with me. Tried to order Uber pickup in town and it wanted to charge me the $50 for delivery. Resigned, I walked to a Purolator store where I was told they did not accept these boxes, that they're not allowed to and I'm "not supposed to be there". Not sure what that was about. Finally I figured out that with my Uber profile set to "business" it wasn't applying the voucher, but it worked on personal. Got the results back two days later.
YUL was a disaster the next morning, a huge lineup to wait for the aggravating & pointless temperature check before security, no priority/NEXUS. Crowds everywhere. Terrible service on YUL-YYC to top it off, but I was home after six months.
BTW I'm also getting the ArriveCAN symptom notifications/emails, which I'm ignoring. I will also get to test out leaving and possibly re-entering Canada within the initial 14 day period. Wish me luck.
If I'm reading this correctly, had you not missed the YYC connection, you would have been allowed to continue onward travel as a fully-vaccinated Canadian, right?
This information is probably out there, but the various government websites are confusing AF, and I'm trying to make an urgent routing decision due to this unexpected surprise.
Aug 5, 2021, 5:11 am
#1451
Join Date: Aug 2000
Location: ZRH / YUL
Programs: UA, TK, Starwood > Marriott, Hilton, Accor
Posts: 7,295
Aug 6, 2021, 12:55 pm
#1453
Join Date: Aug 2021
Posts: 1
Update: despite the verbiage on the travel.gc.ca website, I entered Canada 14 days after my vaccine and it went smoothly, no quarantine required, no questions asked. I don't know why the website implies it's 15 days when all other communications say it's 14 days.
In YYZ they did not even ask to see the original of my vaccine certificate. They were more interested about how much cash I was carrying, just like in the good old days.
In YYZ they did not even ask to see the original of my vaccine certificate. They were more interested about how much cash I was carrying, just like in the good old days.
Aug 6, 2021, 1:58 pm
#1454
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Atlanta
Posts: 5,182
What were your travel dates, out of curiosity? I just saw this update with the example on the travel.gc page and got stressed out as I am supposed to travel on the 14th after getting my vaccine on the 31st. Hoping your experience was the standard and that they won't be picky since they are the ones who specifically said 14 days in all of their other guidelines!
Aug 6, 2021, 2:51 pm
#1455
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: Homeless
Programs: Hyatt Glob; Hilton Dia; Marriott AMB; Accor Dia; IHG Dia Amb; GHA Tit
Posts: 4,837
What were your travel dates, out of curiosity? I just saw this update with the example on the travel.gc page and got stressed out as I am supposed to travel on the 14th after getting my vaccine on the 31st. Hoping your experience was the standard and that they won't be picky since they are the ones who specifically said 14 days in all of their other guidelines!