To vaccinated folks who crossed after the border re-opening to US travelers, did you still have to go through Day 1 testing (either at the border or the take home kit)?

Thanks

Nope. I believe it is now random.

For an unvaccinated 10 year old crossing border from NY thruway with vaccinated parents, what's the current requirement? I see 72 hour test. Then I see day1-8 test requirement and other quarantine requirement. How is that done in practice?

This is my first hand account. All of us, vaccinated adults and unvaccinated kids required a test 72 hours before arrival to Canada.

Download and complete all the "paperwork" in the ArriveCan app within 72 hours before arrival. This will speed up the process at the booth. We were then instructed to go to secondary inspection where I had shown our tests in a printed form. I'm sure you could do it in your phone but you'd have to hand it over to the CBSA agent. Since we are staying until day 9, the agent have us 2 test kits per unvaccinated child. There was a close testing site near the Peace Bridge at the Fort Erie Racetrack where you can do the day 1 test.

Go to switchhealth.ca to set up an account there and put in details for your 10 year old. Their Covid tests will be tracked there.

Tomorrow is day 8 for us so we'll do another test for the kids then.

Enjoy your trip.

Thanks. We have done our test on Friday around noon but were told that the official test will not come back for 3-5 days. How can anyone meet the 72 hr rule from US? Is there any test site on US side of the border that will do a quick, acceptable test?

Also, can the results be 3 days old but beyond 72 hours? For example, if we try to enter on Monday 6pm with a test result taken on previous Friday around noon, would that be acceptable?

We are trying to do a road trip up the St. Lawrence river and booked several hotels and restaurants next week. It's a shame that even though we are vaccinated (except for our 10 year old) we will likely have cancel everything.

USA is 3 calendar days. Times don’t matter. Canada is strictly 72 hours for land border and 72 hours from original flight departure time for air.

Try your luck at CVS. No oop at time of test. We got ours done at 4pm on a Tuesday. One test result ready Wednesday evening and all the rest Thursday mooring so about 1.5 days between test and results. Of course, ymmv. Good luck and have fun on your trip!

I drove into Canada yesterday at Queenston/Lewiston. 6 lanes open. No separate Nexus lanes. Long lines. About 3-4 minutes per car. If you have properly done ArriveCAN and have the covid test it is very routine. Virtually all the cars in line were American.

Thank you for all the replies. I was able to make the trip after paying (a large sum) for rapid PCR tests at the last minute. This is after I realized that the Walgreen test will never arrive in time.

I drove into Canada on Sunday 8/29 via I-87 gateway to Montreal. On ArriveCAN app - I can not find a port name matching this entry point - How could that be that the main interstate entrance to Montreal is not on the list of ports? Also, children can travel on birth certificates but there's no support in the app for that. I am frankly disappointed with this app.

The border agent was as usual very pleasant. He told me not to worry about the port of entry or the time of entry, checked the passport, our vaccination cards, test results, and waved us through. The whole process took one minute, and there's virtually no other car entering Canada at the time. No mentioning of day 1 and day 8 test for my 8 year old. And no test kits offered.

All the ordeals are worth it, as I finally got to do my road trip to Charlevoix. The scenery is breath-taking. I did stop at Montreal. The central business area is quite depressing, but Miles End is bustling. I'm also quite surprised that everything is a lot more expensive in Montreal nowadays.

I-85 turns into A15 in Canada. The port of entry should be Lacolle 15.

Usage of US birth certificates is discouraged as they are issued by the state/county and in theory there could be variations in formats. Technically, a photo ID is also needed in conjunction with the birth certificate.

EDIT: ArriveCan now shows I-87/A15 crossing as St-Bernard-de-Lacolle: Highway 15 instead of Lacolle 15.

So what are people actually doing to get the required Covid test to enter Canada by land? I've done some more looking at the Walgreens and CVS sites and it seems like a royal PITA. We'll be in Vermont before entering Canada, and it seems impossible to get tested at those chains in VT. We can arrange our schedule to be in Massachusetts within 72 hours of our border crossing so I guess we'll try that. It's also hard to schedule the test in Massachusetts, but if I book early,and am willing to drive to one of the rare stores that is doing it, it seems possible. From prior discussion here, I know that CVS' rapid antigen test is unacceptable. But I assume that if the store I go to is listed as doing a PCR/NAAT test, that's OK? Does anyone know what kind of test that actually is at CVS? I assume it's NOT a deep nasal swab? Any experience getting the results back from CVS in a timely manner? And any alternatives to do this (preferably for free) in VT?

I certainly know why the number of Americans crossing the border is still small. We're planning on going for about 9 days. I'd never go through this hassle for a long weekend.

Can’t comment on VT. Not sure where in MA you will be. I have friends who returned recently from Lenox. They used the CVS there and had a good experience. Results in less than 24 hrs and not the deep swab. They were happy and had no issues when they flew into YYZ.

Lenox is just about an hr from the VT border, depending on your route. It’s also really easy to access I90 and the 87/787 north to the border. From Lenox that way, I’ve done it in 3 hrs.

Why is it impossible and PITA to get tested at Walgreens in VT? They offer ID NOW (Rapid NAAT) which involves the test being executed onsite with results which turn around in 30 minutes to 24 hours (should be under 6 hours). Walgreens test are self administered so you can make it as deep or shallow as you like.

Yeah, I just called a CVS store in MA that the CVS website says is offering the PCR/NAAT test and I have some degree of confidence that this will "work." The pharmacist said she's "heard of a few problems" with people not getting their results in a timely manner, but that the system seems to be generally working and is reasonably organized. She told me it's drive-thru and they'll hand us the swabs to test ourselves. You can sign up for an appointment 2 weeks in advance. Sounds like what we're looking for. I plan to take the test 2 days before I plan to cross the border and hope for the best.

The CVS websites show no tests available in VT. I spoke to a pharmacist at one of their VT stores who told me they're not doing testing in VT because they weren't contracted by the VT Dept of Health to do so. She told me to call the Health Dept to see who could do it. I called the Health Dept and, unsurprisingly, they weren't terribly helpful. The representative thought Kinney Drugstores were doing testing, but when I called one of their branches, they told me they couldn't guarantee results within 3 days.
On the Walgreens site, it does seem like there are 4 stores in the state that offer ID NOW testing. But getting an appointment seems problematic. When I clicked on the West Lebanon store, they only offered a few appointments for the next couple of days, and nothing beyond that. Seems like that's not a very reliable option to get across the border.

Walgreen appointments show up only 2-3 days prior. New appointments should pop up shortly after midnight Eastern. Walgreens does not allow for same-day appointments.

If you check again around Saturday 12:10-12:30AM, you should find appointments for Monday. I just checked right now, several appointments available for Sunday at Rutland and Fair Haven.

So if you want a test for next Friday (as an example), you should check starting Wednesday after midnight.