TORONTO – Fully vaccinated Canadian citizens who test negative for the coronavirus are now exempt from two weeks of quarantine when returning to the country.
The new rules took effect as of July 5, under previously announced guidelines
The border between Canada and the U.S. remains closed to all non essential travel. The restrictions were announced in March, 2020 in the early months of the pandemic and have been extended every month since.
There are growing calls in the U.S. to open the Canada-U.S. border for nonessential travel like tourism, but just 10% of eligible Canadians are fully vaccinated now.The Canadian government expects to have enough vaccine delivered for 80% of eligible Canadians to be fully vaccinated by the end of July.
Canadians and permanent residents who return to Canada will have to be fully vaccinated 14 days or more before arrival to qualify for the exemption.
Officials said those travelers must have two doses of a vaccine approved by Canada, provide a negative coronavirus test from 72 hours before arrival, take a second test upon arrival, and have a quarantine plan if the arrival test comes back positive.
Public Safety Minister Bill Blair said the first phase of easing border measures will continue to restrict entry to Canada for foreign nationals who want to enter for nonessential reasons.
Transport Minister Omar Alghabra also said a flight ban between Canada and India will remain in place until July 21, but a flight ban with Pakistan will be removed. The flight bans were imposed after an increase in coronavirus cases driven by the highly contagious Delta variant first identified in India.
