Canada Border opening officially announced

By Vijay Lala

Published

Updated

OTTAWA — Effective September 7, fully vaccinated foreign nationals will be allowed to enter Canada for discretionary travel.

Foreign nationals who meet the fully vaccinated traveller exemption requirements will be allowed to enter Canada as of 12:01 a.m. September 7, 2021.

The Government of Canada announced on July 19 that it would allow foreign nationals meeting these requirements to enter Canada starting on September 7, 2021. This means that eligible individuals can travel to Canada if they have been vaccinated against Covid-19 at least 14 days before their date of entry into Canada.

Canada Border opening – Who can come to Canada

If you are a foreign national and qualify for the fully vaccinated traveller exemption, this means that you can travel to Canada for discretionary (non-essential) reasons. e.g. visiting visa.

Canada Border opening – Exemptions for fully vaccinated travellers

To qualify for the fully vaccinated traveller exemption, you must be exempt from quarantine and day-8 testing requirements.

Canada Border opening – Check if you qualify for the exemption

To qualify for the fully vaccinated traveller exemption, you must be eligible to enter Canada on your specific entry date and have no signs or symptoms of COVID-19. You also need proof that you’ve received a complete series of an accepted vaccine against this virus within 14 days before entering Canada. For example, if your last dose was anytime on Thursday, July 1, then Friday, July 16 would be when you meet all conditions. You also must upload the proof of vaccination in the ArriveCAN application. And lastly, you must meet all other entry requirements, such as having pre-entry tests done before leaving your home country.

Foreign nationals looking to enter Canada for discretionary reasons before 12:01 a.m. EDT on September 7 will not be allowed.

Accepted and approved COVID-19 vaccines in Canada

  • Pfizer-BioNTech (Comirnaty, tozinameran, BNT162b2)
  • Moderna (mRNA-1273)
  • AstraZeneca/COVISHIELD (ChAdOx1-S, Vaxzevria, AZD1222)
  • Janssen/Johnson & Johnson (Ad26.COV2.S)

Vaccines not currently accepted for fully vaccinated status in Canada:

  • Bharat Biotech (Covaxin, BBV152 A, B, C)
  • Cansino (Convidecia, Ad5-nCoV)
  • Gamalaya (Sputnik V, Gam-Covid-Vac)
  • Sinopharm (BBIBP-CorV, Sinopharm-Wuhan)
  • Sinovac (CoronaVac, PiCoVacc)
  • Vector Institute (EpiVacCorona)
  • Other

Canada Border opening – If you are going to Canada, know the following: 

Mandatory pre-arrival RT-PCR test result

Travellers entering Canadian border must show a negative COVID-19 test result. It can be from 72 hours before their flight, or if they are going by land or water, it needs to be within the last three days.

ArriveCAN app: Submission of the mandatory information, including uploading digital proof of vaccination via the ArriveCAN app

Travellers are required to vaccinate themselves according to the Canadian Government’s regulations fully. They must submit their mandatory information, including proof of vaccination in English or French using ArriveCAN, before arriving in Canada within 72 hours of departure from another country.

Travellers should download the latest version of their application from Google Play Store or App Store for iPhone before September 7 at 12:01 a.m. EDT to ensure they have up-to-date information while travelling to Canada.

Air travellers who are seeking to enter Canada for a discretionary purpose must submit their information using ArriveCAN before they board the flight. Travellers unable to show an electronic copy of this receipt will not be allowed on the plane, so make sure it is accessible.

Random Selection for testing at the Canadian Border

As of August 9, people who are fully vaccinated for COVID-19 will not need to take a test on arrival. But if they happen to be randomly selected for a day one molecular COVID-19 test, they will do it and show that they are vaccinated.

Direct flights from India and Morocco are temporarily not working.

Canada has stopped flights from India and Morocco till September. People who fly to Canada from these places will need to get a COVID-19 test result done in another country before they can come here. Test done from India and Morocco will not be accepted at the border in Canada.

Also read:

https://www.immiboards.com/news/quarantine-hotel-stay/
https://www.immiboards.com/news/canada-extends-travel-restrictions/
https://www.immiboards.com/news/canada-extends-ban-on-direct-arriving-passenger-flights-from-india-till-september-21/
https://www.immiboards.com/news/canada-extends-travel-ban-for-india-and-pakistan/

Vijay Lala is the founder and editor-in-chief of Immiboards.com. Dual master's degrees in Political Science and Economics, along with a decade of Canadian immigration research experience, have equipped him with a comprehensive understanding of the complexities of immigration law, policy research, and settlement issues. Twitter


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