The Government of Canada has announced more details around its new COVID-19 protocols for international travellers.
Starting February 22, 2021, before departing for Canada, all air travellers will have to reserve a room at a Government of Canada-approved hotel for three nights. Reservations at the approved hotel will be available starting February 18.
Visit the Government of Canada website for more information about the mandatory hotel stay, including a list of approved hotels.
Additionally, all travellers arriving by air will have to take a COVID-19 molecular test before they leave the airport. Once they have taken the test, travellers will be given a test kit to use near the end of their 14-day quarantine before proceeding to their government-approved hotel while they wait for their test results.
Travellers who test negative will be able to continue to their planned place of quarantine. Anyone who tests positive for COVID-19 will be relocated to a designated quarantine facility, or other suitable place of quarantine.
Travellers are also required to check-in the day after arriving in Canada and to report symptoms daily, either by phone or through the ArriveCAN app.
This newly required testing is in addition to the required proof of a negative COVID-19 test result in the 72 hours before boarding an international flight to Canada.
To ensure travellers’ awareness and compliance with quarantine requirements, the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) is working with security companies to help complete compliance checks for travellers arriving in Canada. Employees of these companies were trained by the PHAC and authorized as screening officers under Canada’s Quarantine Act.
The screening officers will visit travellers’ quarantine locations to establish contact, confirm identity and confirm that travellers are at the place of quarantine they identified upon arrival in Canada. The new screening officers will conduct visits in 35 countries across the country.
In January, the government and Canada’s airlines agreed to suspend all flights to and from Mexico and Caribbean countries from until April 30, 2021. All flights into Canada now must land at one of four airports – Vancouver International Airport, Toronto Pearson International Airport, Montréal-Trudeau International Airport or Calgary International Airport.
This includes scheduled commercial passenger flights arriving from the United States, Central America and South America, which were previously exempt, as well as private/business and charter flights from all countries.
