Canadian Immigration Update: Government Lightens Border Measures effective February 28, 2022

Effective February 28, 2022 at 12:01 am EST, all vaccinated travelers will be able to enter Canada with an antigen test, and unvaccinated children under 12 years old will no longer have to quarantine.

To meet the pre-entry requirements, travelers will have the option of presenting a negative COVID-19 rapid antigen test result, taken 1 day prior to their scheduled flight (or arrival at the land border), or a molecular test result, taken no more than 72 hours before their scheduled flight (or arrival at the land border).  The rapid antigen test must be authorized by the country in which it was purchased and must be administered by a laboratory, healthcare entity, or telehealth service.  Taking a rapid antigen test at home is not sufficient and travelers will still need to upload documents via the ArriveCAN app before crossing the border.

Upon arrival, random COVID testing will still be conducted on fully vaccinated travelers, but now travelers will not need to quarantine while awaiting test results, even if they have been outside the U.S. or Canada within the last 14 days.

In addition, unvaccinated children under the age of 12 traveling with a fully vaccinated adult will be exempt from quarantine, and will no longer need to limit their activities for the first 14 days (such as not attending school or daycare).

The Government of Canada will adjust its Travel Health Notice from a Level 3 to a Level 2.  This means that the Government will no longer recommend that Canadians avoid travel for non-essential purposes.  Also, on February 28, 2022 at 16:00 EST, all Canadian airports with Canada Border Service Agency (“CBSA”) designations will resume to receive international passenger flights.