Anybody entering Canada by air is now required to tender proof of a recent COVID-19 negative test result.
This new rule sets Canada at par with many other countries like Portugal, France, Brazil, and Russia. Also, some airlines have implemented same rules which apply to flights that are landing in nations that don’t have this requirement.
The requirement applies to every air passengers who are five years of age or older irrespective of whether their travel is classified as essential or non-essential. However, air crew members, providers of emergency service and anyone on a plane which is only landing in Canada to refuel are exempted from this new requirement.
Every passenger for whom those exemption situations do not apply must provide proof of a negative result from a PCR test taken within 72 hours of his or her scheduled departure time to the airline. Without that evidence, the passenger will not be allowed to b e part of the flight.
Acceptable tests for air passengers coming into Canada include tests ran by laboratories that the government has accredited, tests ran by laboratories that possess membership of a professional association, and those carried out by laboratories that have been accredited by the International Organization for Standardization.
Apart from providing proof of a negative test, travellers coming into Canada must quarantine for the first 14 days in the country. Any traveller whose quarantine plan is not accepted will be directed to a federal quarantine facility.
Also, federal quarantine facilities will house any traveller coming into Canada from a country that does not provide PCR tests.
Furthermore, passengers on Canada-bound flights will still have to answer health screening questions, pass through temperature checks and wear nose masks.
Any traveller that violates any of these requirements will be charged under the Quarantine Act and such traveller stand the chance of spending up to six months in jail or pay a fine of up to $75,000.
The federal government has recommended that any traveller unsure how they can run a PCR test outside Canada to contact their airline, local health authorities or the closest Government of Canada office.
