On Wednesday, June 9 2021, the Federal Government announced its plans to introduce a “phased” adjustment to the current border restrictions.

The first step being considered is to allow fully-vaccinated Canadians, permanent residents and essential workers to enter Canada without the requirement to stay in a government- approved quarantine hotel upon arrival. In order to qualify, travellers must have been fully vaccinated by a vaccine authorized for use in Canada, at least 14 days prior to arrival. They would continue to be required to submit their quarantine plan through ArriveCAN prior to arrival, and provide a negative pre-entry PCR test result. On arrival, the traveller would be tested a second time. Travellers would then be required to quarantine while they await the results of their post-arrival test. It was unclear at the time of the announcement whether the quarantine must then continue beyond receipt of a negative result for the full 14 days, or not. We do expect more information from the government in the coming weeks.

The Federal Government has signaled that these changes could be implemented as early as July, and only if case counts continue to drop and the national vaccination campaign continues to go well. For temporary residents entering Canada, it remains to be seen just how broadly ‘essential workers’ will be interpreted.

An update to this post can be found here.

We will continue to update our clients with information as it becomes available. If you have any questions about this topic, other COVID-19 related questions, please do not hesitate to contact a Mathews Dinsdale lawyer, or refer to the Firm’s COVID-19 website resources.