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The Canada / U.S. border is opening as of Aug. 9

by Lorraine Carpenter

Fully vaccinated travellers from all countries can come to Canada as of Sept. 7.

In a press conference this afternoon, federal Minister of Health Patty Hajdu announced that the Canada / U.S. border is opening to fully vaccinated non-essential travellers — specifically U.S. citizens and permanent residents — as of Aug. 9.

Fully vaccinated travellers from all countries can enter Canada as of Sept. 7. All travellers will have to be vaccinated with a vaccine recognized by Health Canada at least 14 days before entering the country.

All travellers to Canada, regardless of vaccination status, will still need a negative pre-departure test, but as of Aug. 9, there will be mandatory randomized testing of fully vaccinated travellers. This means that only those who have been randomly selected will need to complete a day one test. According to Hajdu, this will allow the focus to shift to unvaccinated travellers and new variants.

Hajdu also shared good news for Canadian families who wish to travel with children: Children under 12 will be exempt from the 14-day quarantine following their return from an international trip. However, they will still be barred from group activities such as summer camp, daycare and school.

On Aug. 9, the quarantine hotel system will end for unvaccinated and partly vaccinated air travellers. However, other travel rules for those groups — the 14-day quarantine and day one and day eight tests — will remain in place.

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Posted in News

by Lorraine Carpenter

Editor in chief
Lorraine Carpenter was born in Montreal and studied communications and journalism at Concordia. She co-founded Cult MTL in 2012 following 12 years at the now-defunct Montreal alt weekly the Mirror, where she worked in editorial as copy editor and music editor. She’s dedicated to supporting the cultural scene in Montreal.