Canada’s new travel rules for U.S. visitors begin today & here are the details

It’s Monday, August 9, which means Canada’s new rules for travellers are officially in effect. Starting today, fully-vaccinated U.S. residents can visit our provinces and territories for non-essential reasons, so long as their vaccination status meets the criteria laid out by the federal government. These exemptions apply to American citizens and permanent residents who currently live in the States.

Plus, U.S. residents will no longer have to do the mandatory 3-night hotel stopover when they visit Canada. Our neighbours to the south must receive their second dose of an accepted COVID-19 vaccine at least 14 days before their flight to Canada. Proof of vaccination must be uploaded to ArriveCAN.

Travellers showing symptoms of COVID-19 will not be granted Canada’s new exemption for fully-vaxxed travellers, and it’s worth noting that there are other requirements as well, including a pre-entry test — all of which must be uploaded to the ArriveCAN app.

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Canada has also set a tentative date for when this exemption will be extended to travellers worldwide. On September 7, the federal government says that if all goes according to plan, all foreign nationals who qualify as fully-vaccinated will be able to enter Canada as they please and skip the 3-night hotel stay.

However, there are currently only four Health Canada-accepted COVID-19 vaccines. At least 6 brands that are being distributed in other countries are not currently accepted for fully-vaccinated status in Canada.

Travellers who hope to take advantage of these new exemptions should prepare for longer wait times at the border, according to the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA). “CBSA will not compromise the health and safety of Canadians for the sake of border wait times,” said CBSA spokeswoman Rebecca Purdy via AP News.