For international students travelling to Canada, there is good news: the country has confirmed plans to eliminate pre-arrival COVID tests for fully vaccinated travellers. Travellers will no longer be required to submit a negative COVID-19 test upon arrival in Canada from April 1, 2022.
“Adjustments to Canada’s border measures are made possible by a number of factors, including Canada’s high vaccination rate, the increasing availability and use of rapid tests to detect infection, decreasing hospitalizations and growing domestic availability of treatments for COVID-19,”
Minister of Health Jean-Yves Duclos said.
“As vaccination levels and healthcare system capacity improve, we will continue to consider further easing of measures at the borders-and when to adjust those measures-to keep the people in Canada safe.”
This latest border news from Canada was conveyed in a statement issued yesterday. The new rule applies to visitors who arrive in Canada via air, land, or sea. Travellers may be randomly selected for a COVID-19 molecular test upon arrival, but they will not be quarantined while waiting for the results. It is still necessary to submit information to the ArriveCAN app before arrival.
Travellers must upload a variety of documents here, including evidence of immunization, quarantine plans, and other contact information or trip details. Students who fly to Canada before April 1, 2022, must still meet the current pre-arrival testing requirements.
Students travelling to Canada are currently required to produce a pre-arrival antigen test within 24 hours of their flight’s departure or arrival at the land border. These must be pre-approved by the country from where the student is travelling and cannot be completed at home.
Students have the option of completing a molecular exam within 72 hours after their departure. The restrictions on unvaccinated travellers’ travel have not altered. With a few exceptions, Canada still does not allow unvaccinated permanent residents, temporary residents, and visiting visa holders to enter the country if they are not vaccinated.
On February 28, the Canadian government reduced certain criteria for fully immunized travellers. The cancellation of pre-arrival tests has also been welcomed by the Canadian travel sector. The Canadian Travel and Tourism Roundtable previously referred to the government’s testing requirements as a “non-science-based” impediment. They cited other countries that have dropped testing requirements, such as the United Kingdom, Denmark, Switzerland, and Ireland. The ramifications for Canada’s higher education market are no less severe.
According to reports, Canadian institutions are anticipated to lose roughly 1.1 billion Canadian dollars in predicted tuition revenue for the 2020-21 academic year. For university graduates, Canada is a popular study destination. It not only offers some of the top colleges in the world, but it also has a variety of options for students who want to stay and work in the country after graduation.
This comprises the Express Entry fast-track permanent immigration pathway and the Provincial Nominee Program for skilled graduates and employees.
The administration is hopeful that the recent Canadian border announcement to eliminate pre-arrival testing will bring a much-needed ray of hope to the tourism industry and international student market.
“After a challenging two years, we all want the Canadian economy, including the tourism sector, to rebound and grow,”
Minister of Tourism and Associate Minister of Finance Randy Boissonnault said.
“We in government have been listening to the concerns of tourism businesses across the country.”
“We are confident that, thanks to all that Canadians have done to protect one another, we can now take the next step forward and remove testing requirements for fully vaccinated travellers entering Canada. The economy, workers, and tourism business owners will benefit from this next step in opening Canada up once again to the world.”
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