Mar. 16—Getting tested for COVID-19 to cross the U.S. border into Canada may soon be a thing of the past for Whatcom County travelers heading north, Canadian news organizations reported Wednesday, March 16.
The Canadian federal government is expected to announce that travelers entering Canada will no longer have to show proof of a pre-arrival negative COVID-19 test result, the CBC reported on Wednesday. The announcement on that move could come as soon as Thursday.
The dropping of the testing requirement, which is expected to go into effect April 1, would only apply to fully vaccinated travelers, according to a CTV News story Wednesday.
Passengers still could subject to random PCR testing at the airport and travelers will still have to use the ArriveCAN app to submit their proof of vaccination and other required information, according to CTV.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the federal government is continuing to examine which measures can be eased at the border as both countries continue to recover from January's omicron surge, CTV reported, adding Trudeau said he thinks "all Canadians are pretty damn tired of two years of this pandemic, and eager to get back to normal as much as possible."
The Canadian travel industry has been lobbying the federal government to ease its testing requirements, according to the CBC story, as travelers have complained about the expense and hassle to find approved testing facilities while out of the country and some testing can cost as much as $200.
Fully vaccinated travelers currently have to submit a negative COVID-19 test result from no more than one day before the scheduled flight or their arrival at the Canadian border from a professionally administered or observed rapid antigen or a molecular test for entry, according to travel.gc.ca.
Also required is an ArriveCAN receipt with the letter "I", "V" or "A" beside the traveler's name, proof of vaccination uploaded through the ArriveCAN app and a plan for quarantine along with travel documents (such as a passport) entered in ArriveCAN.
To be considered fully vaccinated for travel, Canada requires at least two accepted vaccine doses, a mix of two accepted vaccine doses or one dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine and at least 14 days to have passed before entering Canada. Travelers also must not have any COVID-19 symptoms.
Unvaccinated Canadian travelers crossing the border for discretionary reasons are currently required to quarantine after entering Canada.
As of Feb. 16, the U.S. still requires full vaccination for entry into the U.S. at land borders, but no proof of a negative test is required, according to the U.S. Embassy and Consulates webpage. U.S. citizens do not need to provide proof of vaccination.
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