Canada Health Declaration (ArriveCan)

To quicken the entry process into Canada and help curb COVID-19 to ensure the safety and health of Canadians as well as visitors, the authorities have launched the ArriveCan system. This process makes it compulsory for visitors to provide their travel information. Let us take a look at its prominent aspects.

Covid-19 Travel Form to Be Filled Online

If you are to enter Canada via airway, land route, sea route, or by rail, you must compulsorily provide your contact details, travel itinerary, and quarantine details about your arrival and also specify whether you have tested positive/negative for COVID-19 when entering Canada.

Vaccination Requirements

To enter Canada, you need to be qualified as a fully-vaccinated traveler. To be accepted as a fully vaccinated person, you need to get the complete dosage of one of the seven COVID-19 vaccines approved by the Canadian government.  You can also receive a combination of approved vaccines including Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca/Covishield, Johnson & Johnson, Sinopharm, Sinovac, and Covaxin.

You should get your last vaccine dose 14 days before your entry to Canada.   

Exemption to Vaccination

You are exempted from this regulation if you   

• are a child under 12 years of age accompanying a fully-vaccinated adult
• are a child under five years of age
• are welcomed on compassionate reasons
• are employed for the short term in certain industries   

Pre-entry Tests

If you are not fully vaccinated because of medical reasons, you need to provide a negative COVID-19 certificate. It can be the result of either an antigen test conducted 24 hours before your flight or a molecular test conducted 72 hours before the commencement of the trip.

14 Day Quarantine

If you are not fully vaccinated, you will be either denied entry to Canada or will have to self-quarantine for 14 days. This is compulsory and begins the day you reach Canada. This is compulsory and begins the day you reach Canada. Even if you test negative for COVID-19 on your arrival, you are still required to quarantine, except if you belong to an approved federal and provincial COVID-19 project.

In case you are symptomatic when in quarantine, or test positive for COVID-19, you need to go through an extra 10-day isolation. If someone you traveled with tests positive, you need to again isolate yourself for 14 days. 

Exemption to the Quarantine

You could be exempt from the obligatory quarantine regulations under selected cases, including if you:

• Are an essential services provider
• Are responsible to ensure the flow of basic commodities or people
• Are a recipient of medical treatment within 36 hours of entering Canada (unrelated to COVID-19)
• Routinely travel through the border for work
• Stay in a combined trans-border society

Nevertheless, certain provincial and regional limitations may still be necessary to follow (might include quarantine), according to your destination.

Travelers not Exhibiting Any Symptoms

A 14-day quarantine is mandatory for symptomless travelers, which begins the day they land in Canada.

Travelers Showing Symptoms

Mandatory Isolation

The Government of Canada has applied emergency action points to delay the commencement and spread of COVID-19 in Canada. Self-isolation for 14 days is inevitable. Besides, the travelers must submit their contact details and observe themselves for any coronavirus indications, complying with the requirements of the ’Minimizing the Risk of Exposure to COVID-19 in Canada’ Order (Quarantine, Isolation and Other Requirements).

Your conformity with the respective conditions depends on authentication and implementation. Offenders could bear the brunt of being moved to a quarantine center along with penalties and/or detention. There are regions and territories that may have added movement restrictions (for instance, no unnecessary trip to the specific province, restricted access to selected areas, and others).

Using the ArriveCAN app, or Canada.ca/ArriveCAN online or by calling 1-833-641-0343, travelers must register their arrival at the isolation center, not later than 48 hours after their arrival in Canada. If their symptoms deteriorate or new symptoms arise, they are to abide by the COVID-19 directives of the local public health authority.

To know more about likely exposure to COVID-19 through the trip (cruise liners, air travel, public transit, and others.) or about the elements of risk of higher exposure and/or more critical illness, go to canada.ca/coronavirus. Travelers might receive a call from 1-888-336-7735 or 1-888-200-4881 to confirm their compliance throughout their 14-day isolation.

They will also get pre-recorded messages and reminders on their email IDs. Travelers may also be contacted by the provincial or regional administration, within their 14-day isolation. If federal and provincial or territorial guidelines vary, travelers must adhere to the more stringent directives.

Entry into Canada by Air

Entry into Canada by Air

Only travelers who are completely vaccinated can enter Canada. Foreigners who are not fully vaccinated will be allowed in only special circumstances.Travelers who are not completely vaccinated due to medical reasons must present evidence of a negative COVID-19 test outcome to the flight authorities before getting onboard international airlines headed to Canada.

All travelers to Canada must follow compulsory isolation or quarantine guidelines upon landing. Failing to adhere to the mandatory norms is a grave offense and violators are likely to face fines and punitive actions.

Entry to Canada by Land

Entry to Canada by Land

Interim border constraints upon entering Canada are still in place. A large number of factors are involved when the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) is deciding whether a traveler is allowed to enter Canada. Travelers must keep in mind that the final decision lies with the border services officers present at the entrance point.

Their decision is based on the information that is provided to them when the traveler enters Canada. Besides temporary restrictions on entrance effective because of COVID-19, travelers are also required to fulfill the entry criteria corresponding to the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act and provide suitable travel and immigration paperwork. Citizens of other countries having symptoms will be denied entry into Canada.

Entry into Canada via Sea Route

Entrants into Canada do not generally need to practice a 14-day quarantine on entering Canada. However, under COVID-19 symptoms, they must isolate themselves. If a marine traveler gets ill at sea, the local health authority, the port master’s office, and the shipping agency need to be informed. Canada Border Services Agency is the Canadian customs authority that controls the country’s border. They have rolled out further processes at all ports to manage travelers and staff.

Arrival Tests

The Canadian government has temporarily halted the tests on arrival for fully-vaccinated passengers coming by air. If you are not fully vaccinated, you have to take tests on arrival and go on quarantine and take the test again on the eighth day.  You will get two self-swab kits when you land– one to be used at the airport and the other on the eighth day of your quarantine. 

How Does Quarantine Differ From Isolation?

The most common thing that every visitor would want to know is the difference between isolation and quarantine. Both are public medical procedures used for public safety by preventing exposure to patients of a contagious disease or those suspected of being affected.

Isolation means separating patients with a transmittable disease from people who are not ill. Quarantine is the separation and restriction of the movement of people who were exposed to a transmittable disease to find out whether they would fall sick. These people could have been exposed to sickness and may not be aware of it, or they might be affected but are not symptomatic.