Feds aim to end hotel stay, 14-day quarantines for fully vaccinated Canadian travellers in July

Canadians who fly into the country and have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 will no longer be forced to self-isolate for 14 days after arriving, and will no longer have to stay in a quarantine hotel, as early as July.

Health Minister Patty Hajdu announced these “phased” changes to the federal government’s pandemic border measures, following calls to end mandatory hotel quarantines and permit fully vaccinated Canadians to move around more freely.

However, seeing these changes become a reality will depend on whether there are any concerning fluctuations in new case counts and vaccination rates, as well as pending consultations with provinces and territories.

Travellers who have completed their vaccination regime at least 14 days prior to their arrival in Canada will be who the government consider fully vaccinated. Eligible travellers will be those who received a COVID-19 vaccine that has been authorized for use in this country, so: Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca, or the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, even though none of those single-shot J&J doses have been administered in this country to-date.

These travellers will still have to show a negative pre-departure PCR test, and will have take a COVID-19 test upon arriving in Canada. Once in Canada, a suitable self-isolation plan will still need to be abided by until that test result comes back negative.

The easing of restrictions will apply to any Canadian citizens or permanent residents who have received two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine.

On Tuesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau signalled that changes were coming to Canada’s border measures for those who are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, saying that a full vaccine regime is required to ensure more fulsome protection.