The Government of Canada announced it will temporarily suspend the randomized COVID-19 arrival testing for incoming travellers at Canadian airports, a move that comes as the U.S. signals it will remove most testing requirements.
Starting June 11, 2022, only unvaccinated travellers will be required to take a test upon entry to Canada. Fully vaccinated travellers will be exempt from any testing. This “temporary suspension” is being classified by government officials as a “pause” in the travel restrictions with random testing intended to resume on July 1, 2022.
Marie-France Proulx, a spokesperson for the Health Minister, Jean-Yves Duclos noted that the random testing is scheduled to resume in an effort to detect new variants coming to Canada now that most provinces and territories have dispensed of PCR testing in most suspected COVID-19 cases.
The government also announced that the return of the random COVID-19 testing for fully vaccinated travellers and the mandatory testing for unvaccinated travelers will be moved “off-site.” While not providing further explanation as to what “off-site” entails, Tourism Minister, Randy Biossonnault, also commented on the new rule stating, “the three-week pause in random testing will give the government time to set up off-site testing as the program shifts away from the country’s airports with the intended goal that airports will move more quickly.”
We will continue to monitor developments in this space as we emerge from the pandemic. If you have any questions about travel requirements, contact a member of our immigration team.
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