What relaxed COVID restrictions in Canada mean for travelers

Canada has announced it will relax its COVID-related travel requirements from February 28th. With COVID cases on the decline, Canada will begin to phase out its entry restrictions. We explore these changes and how they will affect travelers.

In response to a decline in COVID cases, Canada will ease off its entry requirements for travelers. From February 28th, fully vaccinated travelers can enter the country with a rapid antigen test taken a day before travel. Current rules only accept PCR tests, which will still be accepted alongside antigen tests.

All tests must be conducted by a laboratory, health care or telehealth provider. This means travelers won’t be able to do unsupervised rapid antigen tests at home, but can still take tests verified and supervised by a telehealth service.

Border officials will retain the right to randomly test arriving fully vaccinated travelers via PCR tests. However, these travelers won’t need to quarantine while they await results.

Unvaccinated travelers will still require testing on arrival and Day 8, alongside a mandatory quarantine period of 14 days.