From 1 April 2022, it is no longer required for travellers travelling to Canada to take a Covid-19 test. Proof of vaccination and an eTA Canada, however, are still required.

Frustrations in tourism sector

Since 7 September 2021, travellers who are fully vaccinated with two vaccines from Pfizer-Biotech, Moderna, or AstraZeneca or with one Johnson & Johnson vaccine can travel to Canada as long as they have a valid eTA or visa. In addition, travellers need to be able to show a negative testing result upon arrival. The testing result of the PCR test should not be older than 72 hours, and the result of a rapid test should not be older than 24 hours. In comparison to other countries, Canada is relatively reluctant to implement large-scale relaxations in travel regulation. Nevertheless, earlier this year, the government dropped the negative travel advice for non-essential trips and since 28 February 2022, results from rapid tests have also been accepted for the mandatory negative test result.

The reticence of the Canadian government is causing much frustration in the Canadian tourism industry. Companies say the number of tourists and business travellers to Canada is negatively affected by the current Covid-19 measures and travellers are diverting to other destinations. The vast majority of travellers to Canada are from the USA. It is also mandatory to take a Covid-19 test for travel to the USA. This means that travellers travelling from the USA to Canada and back again have to take multiple tests. The cost of these tests must be paid by the traveller.

PCR test before departure no longer required

The Canadian government is now partially meeting the requests of the tourism sector. From 1 April 2022, fully vaccinated travellers are no longer required to do a Covid-19 test before departure. They only require proof of vaccination and an eTA or visa. Travellers who are not fully vaccinated will still not be allowed to travel to Canada.

The government’s decision is a clear signal that the country has Covid-19 largely under control. The remaining Covid-19 measures are therefore expected to be scaled down during the year. However, the WHO does warn countries that the number of Covid-19 cases is increasing globally. This is largely because countries are increasingly relaxing Covid-19 measures. The WHO does not rule out the possibility of new infection waves this summer.

Remaining measures still in force

The decision of the Canadian government only applies to the Covid-19 test before departure. The other measures for international travellers to Canada remain in force. The vaccination data has to be uploaded before departure in the Canadian ArriveCAN app. Travellers have to be able to show the original documents upon arrival and during their entire stay in Canada, both digitally and on paper. Applying for an eTA Canada before departure is also still required. The eTA does not have to be uploaded into the ArriveCAN app because the travel authorisation will already be linked to the traveller's passport.

Upon arrival in Canada, travellers older than 5 years of age can still be selected at random for a Covid-19 test. They have to await the test result in quarantine. In the event of a positive test result, travellers are required to spend 10 days in quarantine.

Please note: this news article about the eTA for Canada is more than one year old. It might contain outdated information and advice, and no rights can therefore be derived from this article. Are you going on a trip soon and do you wish to do know what rules currently apply? Read all about the up-to-date information about the eTA for Canada.