A welcome change to Canada’s arrival restrictions means that random arrival testing for vaccinated travellers in Canadian airports is ending, albeit temporarily.
On June 10, the Canadian federal government announced that mandatory randomised testing at airports will be temporarily suspended at all airports in Canada for a limited time to help ease delays for air travellers.
The hope is that the changes will supply much-needed alleviation to Canadian and international travellers that have suffered delays and prolonged hold times for weeks.
Vaccinated travellers entering the country by plane won’t be subjected to random tests at airports from Saturday, June 11 to Thursday, June 30.
Unvaccinated travellers, however, will still be required to get tested on-site, the government noted.
Another change to Canada’s travel rules is that all testing will be performed off-site instead of in airports from 1 July.
This new rule will include random testing for vaccinated travellers and testing of all unvaccinated travellers.
The federal government reminded travellers that using ArriveCAN before entering the country “helps remove unnecessary delays.”
In response to widespread Canadian airport delays, the government has also introduced measures including continuing to hire screening officers and adding kiosks at Toronto Pearson International Airport customs areas.
Airport and airline schedules are also being tweaked so that they can accommodate peak travel times.
“We recognise that there is still work to be done, particularly for international arrivals at our largest airports, and we will continue to work with all orders of governments and partners to reduce the delays in the travel system,” officials said.
The news follows the equally welcome announcement by the United States on Friday 10 June to end all arrival testing requirements for vaccinated international travellers.
The news is also forecast help ease Canada’s Airport congestion issues given many travellers have been re-routed to enter the U.S via pre-clearance points at Toronto Airport.
This video highlighting the congestion at Toronto Airport, shot by former NHL player Ryan Whitney has had over 2 million views.
For more, head to www.canada.ca/en/border-services