Canada is easing several travel measures on Monday for people entering the country.
But some rules remain, including the pre-arrival COVID-19 test requirement, which means returning home from abroad can still be complicated and costly.
Here’s what you need to know if you have upcoming travel plans.
You can now take a rapid antigen test
For the past year, the federal government has required that travellers entering Canada show proof of a negative molecular test, such as a PCR, taken within 72 hours of their departing flight or planned arrival at the land border.
Starting Monday, people can opt to instead take a rapid antigen test, which is typically cheaper (generally under $100) and more convenient, as results are available within minutes.
Rapid antigen tests are generally cheaper (often priced under $100) and more convenient, as results are available within minutes. But take-home tests won’t cut it: Canada will only accept pre-entry tests authorized by the country where it was purchased and it must be administered by a lab, health-care entity or telehealth service. (Lam Yik/Reuters)
At a news conference last week, the government said the antigen test must be taken no more than 24 hours before travelling.
But it turns out that people have slightly more time: The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) confirmed on Friday that the test must actually be takenno more than one day before a traveller’s departing flight or planned arrival at the land border.
People must take the antigen test in the country they’re departing from, and can only use one authorized for travellers.
“It can’t be the take-home tests that we’ve seen here in our communities,”said Denis Vinette, vice-president of the CBSA’s Travellers Branch. “It has to be done through a lab that will give you then the [written] confirmation that you are either negative or positive.”
Calls to drop pre-arrival test
Despite offering a potentially cheaper option, the government still faces pressure to drop all pre-arrival testing.
“It’s so ridiculous,” said Dave Swidler, of Mont-Tremblant, Que. who’s set to fly home from the Hawaiian island of Kauai on March 14.
“Somebody who has had three vaccines and wears a mask and doesn’t take chances, making me take a test to come home and making me stress about it — why are they doing that?”
Dave Swidler and his wife, Marina Chase, of Mont-Tremblant, Que. are set to fly home from Hawaii on March 14. (submitted by David Swidler)
On Friday, several border-town mayors on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border held a news conference, calling for an end to all pre-arrival testing at the land border for fully vaccinated travellers.
Even when getting an antigen test, “you still have to go through the hassle of clicking the box, making the appointment, finding a pharmacy that is available,” Windsor Mayor Drew Dilkens said at the news conference.
“The need for testing at the land border is long over.”
Several medical experts also say Ottawa should drop pre-arrival testing, arguing it’s pointless now that Omicron has spread across Canada.
But the government says further easing of border measures will only come when pandemic conditions improve.
“We must continue to exercise prudence,” Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos said last week. “Our fight against the virus is not over.”
What happens if I test positive?
The government has not eased rules for travellers who test positive while abroad.
Those travellers must wait at least 10 full days after they took their test before entering Canada. Infected Canadians won’t be turned away at a land border, but may face fines of up to $5,000 for defying the rules.
“There is still the risk — the real risk — of becoming sick while abroad and having to extend your trip, should you test positive for COVID-19,” Duclos said, speaking in French.
WATCH | Canada allowing travellers to take an antigen test:
Canada easing travel restrictions, dropping PCR test requirement
12 days ago
Duration 1:52
As of Feb. 28, fully vaccinated travellers won’t need a pre-arrival PCR test to enter Canada and unvaccinated children under 12 won’t need to quarantine. The federal government will also be removing the advisory against non-essential travel. 1:52
People who recently recovered from COVID-19 don’t have to take a pre-arrival test — if they provide proof of a positive molecular test taken between 10 and 180 days before entering Canada.
“The PCR molecular test remains the gold standard,” said Vinette. “In order to be able to re-enter [and] demonstrate the positive outcome of your test, you’ll need the molecular test.”
That means travellers abroad who test positive with an antigen test could face complications. They must get a second test to return home and if they opt for another antigen test, the results must be negative.
Norm Chew, of Toronto, says he’ll likely cancel his family’s spring break ski trip to Vermont, due to fears of testing positive while in the U.S. (CBC News)
Norm Chew, of Toronto, had hoped Canada would drop its pre-arrival test requirement. Because that didn’t happen, he says he’ll likely cancel his family’s spring break ski trip to Vermont, due to fears of testing positive.
“If we’re positive, we have to stay out for 10 days, otherwise we could face the fine,” said Chew, who had planned to drive to Vermont. “Ten days in a hotel with four of us sick, no thanks.”
Other rules
Also starting Monday, unvaccinated children under the age of 12 entering Canada with fully vaccinated parents will no longer have to avoid schools, daycare or other crowded settings for 14 days.
And fully vaccinated travellers randomly selected to be tested upon arrival won’t have to quarantine while awaiting their test results.
Finally, Canada has lifted its advisory against non-essential international travel. Although the advisory was in place for most of the pandemic, millions of Canadians still chose to travel abroad.
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
