Planning holiday travel? Here's what you need to know
In response to the Omicron variant of concern, Canada and other countries are quickly implementing new COVID-19 travel rules that could impact your holiday air travel. Here's what you need to know.
TRAVELLING IN CANADA
As of Nov. 30, only fully vaccinated Canadians can board a flight, or train in Canada. Proof of vaccination can include the federal vaccine card or in some cases a paper copy.
TRAVELLING TO THE U.S.
As of Dec. 6, anyone two years and older and flying to the United States needs a negative COVID-19 test one calendar day before their flight. However, you don't need this test if crossing at a land border.
Many airports, including Vancouver International Airport, have testing on-site that can get you results in as quick as 30 minutes.
Robyn McVicker, the vice president of Passenger Journey at YVR told CTV News there are four different options in and around the airport, and suggested people could book ahead.
Travelling anywhere else
Each country will have specific entry requirements. Traveller Adam Zia who was Pakistan bound from Victoria said for each stopover he had, including Qatar and London, he had to make sure he checked all the pre-entry requirements and got the necessary tests. He told CTV News the changes were difficult to navigate not only for him but for airline crew.
RE-ENTERING CANADA
Key to re-entry is the ArriveCAN app, but there are difficulties.
CTV News previously reported on issues faced by those who didn't know they needed the app. While it appears some border agents allowed travellers to go back to fill it out, others were slapped with a two week quarantine.
In the House of Commons, the Conservatives pushed the Liberal government to come up with a solution.
MP Raquel Dancho said politicians "have received hundreds of complaints about this."
Public Safety Minister Marco Mendocino promised more flexibility was coming.
"I've spoken with CBSA," he told the house. "So there's additional guidance to provide the opportunity to provide the information that is necessary on ArriveCAN at the borders."
In addition to filling out vaccination and quarantine information on ArriveCAN anyone five and older also needs a negative test within three days of their flight. Everyone except those arriving from the U.S. will be tested at the airport, the fully vaccinated can quarantine at home until they are cleared, and the unvaccinated must quarantine for two weeks at a designated facility.
At YVR, McVicker said the wait time for a test could be up to an hour and encouraged folks to pre-register their information to avoid delays.
"If we are having a busy time peak period, in some of those cases people will be given a take-home kit," she added.
RETURNING FROM THE U.S.
If your trip to the U.S. is less than 72 hours, you don't need a negative test to get back in, but you could still be subject to a random test.
RETURNING WITH CHILDREN
Unvaccinated kids under 12 will have to be tested at the airport on day eight and will need to stay home from public settings, including school for 14 days. Those 12 to 17 who are unvaccinated will have to follow the full 14 day quarantine protocol.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Federal employees will be required to spend 3 days a week in the office
Starting in September, public servants in the core public administration will be required to work in the office a minimum of three days a week. The Treasury Board Secretariat says executives will need to be in the office four days per week.
Concerns about plexiglass prompt inspections at some Loblaws locations in Ottawa
Inspections are underway at more than one Loblaws location in Ottawa after complaints were filed about tall plexiglass barriers.
Canada's most wanted fugitive arrested in P.E.I. in connection with Toronto homicide
A suspect in a fatal shooting in Toronto’s east end last summer has been arrested in Charlottetown, just one week after he topped a list of Canada’s most wanted fugitives.
OPP officer said 'someone's going to get hurt' before wrong-way Hwy. 401 crash
As multiple Durham police cruisers were chasing a robbery suspect on the wrong side of Highway 401 Monday night, an Ontario Provincial Police officer shared his concerns, telling a dispatcher, "Someone's going to get hurt."
Poilievre returns to House unrepentant for calling Trudeau 'wacko,' Speaker not resigning
An unrepentant Pierre Poilievre returned to the House of Commons on Wednesday to pepper the prime minister about his drug decriminalization policies after being booted the day prior for refusing to take back calling Justin Trudeau 'wacko' over his approach to the issue.
Five human skeletons, missing hands and feet, found outside house of Nazi leader Hermann Göring
Archeologists have unearthed the skeletons of five people, missing their hands and feet, at a former Nazi military base in Poland.
Toddler of Phoenix first responder dies after bounce house goes airborne
A two-year-old child died after a strong gust of wind sent the bounce house he was in airborne and into a neighbouring lot in central Arizona, the Pinal County Sheriff's Office said.
Plane overshoots runway at airport in St. John's, N.L., no injuries reported
Investigators from the Transportation Safety Board of Canada are headed to St. John's, N.L., after a plane overshot a runway at the city's airport this afternoon.
A teen was found buried in a basement in New York. An engraved ring helped police learn her identity two decades later
For more than two decades, the unknown victim was nicknamed "Midtown Jane Doe" because she was found in the Hell's Kitchen neighbourhood of New York City. But this week, investigators finally revealed her identity.