Big news out of Ottawa this morning for Canadians with wanderlust! Beginning July 5th, fully vaccinated Canadians retuning home on international flights will no longer have to pay for a hotel quarantine. This marks the start of reopening global tavel, after the Canadian government imposed mandatory hotel quarantines for all international travelers into Canada.
On March 14, 2021 the Canadian government issued a Level 3 Warning for Canadians to avoid all non-essential travel out of the county. In their words, “The Public Health Agency of Canada is advising extra caution if you must travel. Variants of the virus causing COVID-19 are under investigation in many countries, and it is expected that these variants will be reported in more countries as time goes on. The Public Health Agency of Canada is closely monitoring the situation and working with its international partners including the WHO to better understand these variants and their impacts.”
But as Canada’s vaccination rates soars, currently 75% of all eligible Canadians have at least one shot, with 25% having both doses, the government feels they can begin to loosen travel restrictions. This will help encourage resistant Canadians to get the jab and begin to provide some relief for Canada’s beleaguered airlines.
As of July 5th, fully vaccinated Canadian citizens, permanent residents, and those already eligible to travel, will not have to pay for a government approved hotel quarantine property. Instead they’ll be able to return by completing negative COVID-19 tests before they leave for Canada and once they arrive. They’ll be allowed to return to their home from the airport and once they receive a negative result for their test upon arrival, they will no longer need to self-isolate.
These rules do not apply to children and here things get a little confusing, which only underscores how difficult and messy it will be for global travel to return to normal.
Currently only those 12 years old and over can be vaccinated, and while children travelling with fully-vaccinated adults can skip the hotel quarantine, children will still have to quarantine at home for 14 days. Their fully vaccinated parents may come and go as they please, but the children will still have to isolate at home. Partially vaccinated and unvaccinated travelers will still have to abide by all travel rules and restrictions, including paying for a quarantine hotel.
These first steps at reopening do not apply to foreign nationals or those wishing to come to Canada for non-essential business. It is expected in the weeks ahead that the Canadian government will announce additional steps to reopening to fully vaccinated travelers and some international commitments on vaccine passports. Things are changing rapidly so watch this space for more news.
In the meantime Canadians wishing to plan a trip abroad should download the ArriveCAN app as this will serve as the basis for Canadians to submit they proof of vaccination and negative tests when retuning home.
