COVID-19 Testing
Recently the Canadian government announced official requirements regarding mandatory COVID-19 testing to enter Canada by air. You can review the summary here.
Highlights from the announcement include the following:
- “Effective January 7, 2021, at 12:01 a.m. EST, all air passengers five years of age or older will be required to test negative for COVID-19 before travelling from another country to Canada. “
- “Documentation of a negative laboratory test result must be presented to the airline prior to boarding a flight to Canada. The test must be performed using a COVID-19 molecular polymerase chain reaction (or PCR) test and must be taken within 72 hours prior to the traveler’s scheduled departure to Canada.”
- “Anyone who receives a negative test result and is authorized to enter Canada must still complete the full, mandatory 14-day quarantine.”
ArriveCAN App
If you are flying to Canada, you must use the ArriveCAN app to submit your travel and contact information; quarantine plan (unless exempted under conditions set out in the mandatory isolation order); and COVID-19 symptom self-assessments.
You must use ArriveCAN before you board your fight to Canada. Once you submit your information through ArriveCAN a receipt will be displayed. You will need to show the receipt to the Canadian border services officer. Please note you can show your receipt from the app as a screenshot or printout.
If you are entering by land, you are strongly encouraged to submit your travel information through ArriveCAN as it will speed up processing at the border and limit points of contact.
For more information on the ArriveCan app please see here.
