After some speculation earlier in the week, Canada has officially dropped certain travel testing requirements for some folks looking to take short trips outside of the country. While this is great news for weekend getaways, it won’t come into effect immediately. Here’s what to know.

Starting on November 30th, fully vaccinated travellers with right of entry (citizens, permanent residents or individuals registered under the Indian Act) to Canada will not have to produce a pre-entry molecular test to get back into the country, as long as they are gone for under 72 hours. Children under 12 accompanying travellers, or those with medical conditions preventing vaccination, will also be exempt from the pre-entry tests.

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Naturally, this is skewed towards those hoping to enjoy a weekend getaway in America or other easily accessible countries. Not that you couldn’t fly to say, South Korea, and back in under 72 hours, but it wouldn’t leave much time to actually enjoy the visit.

The date also overlaps with the introduction of vaccination requirements for travel into and within Canada. For more information on that plan, click here.

Regardless, the new update on Canada testing requirements is sure to get a sigh of relief from would-be travellers, since most private molecular tests cost upwards of $200 CAD and put extra strain on existing testing facilities.