COVID-19: Officials announce plan to ease quarantine requirement

IMPACT – HIGH

The Canadian government announced Wednesday that it is preparing ease COVID-19 quarantine requirements for vaccinated Canadian citizens, residents, essential workers and others eligible to enter the country. The changes could come as soon as July.

Key Points:

• Under the plan, “fully vaccinated” travelers eligible to enter Canada would no longer be required to quarantine for three days in a hotel upon arrival. Instead, they would self-isolate while awaiting results of a PCR test administered upon arrival. Upon testing negative, they would no longer have to isolate.
• Travelers would be considered “fully vaccinated” two weeks after receiving their final dose of an approved vaccine.
• Health Minister Patty Hajdu announced the changes Wednesday. While Hajdu did not provide an exact implementation date, new outlets reported that the requirements could be lifted as soon as early July.
• The change would only affect quarantine requirements, not eligibility to enter the country. Travelers would also still be required to test negative for COVID-19 within 72 hours before travel.
• Unvaccinated travelers would likely still be required to complete the current quarantine, i.e., three days in a hotel and the duration of the two-week quarantine at their own location.

BAL Analysis: While change would significantly ease travel procedures for those eligible to enter Canada, no implementation date has yet been announced. For now, travelers must continue to follow the current testing and quarantine protocol. BAL will continue to follow Canada’s plan to ease requirements, and will update clients as information becomes available.

This alert has been provided by Berry Appleman & Leiden. For additional information, please contact berryapplemanleiden@bal.com.

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