What You Need to Know About the Land Borders Opening for Canadians into the United States
The United States has announced that they will be reopening its land borders with Canada to fully vaccinated travelers. Essential travelers, including students, truck drivers, US citizens and healthcare workers were never banned from crossing land borders, however the news of the opened borders for non-essential travelers comes with requirements. Due to the confusion, we’ve listed the steps for your next road trip down south to ensure you have a safe trip.
Vaccination Requirements Get a FDA or WHO approved full vaccination.
Vaccines are now widely available, safe, effective and reduce your risk of severe illness. In order to enter the US, Canadians must be fully vaccinated. People are considered fully vaccinated if they meet the following requirements:
Received a FDA authorized / approved COVID-19 vaccine: Moderna, Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer-BioNTech, or
Received a WHO approved COVID-19 vaccine: Oxford-AstraZeneca / Covishield, Sinopharm and Sinovac
Upload proof of vaccination in the ArriveCAN app.
ArriveCan is mandatory to provide essential travel information before and after your re-entry into Canada. Information must be submitted 72 hours prior to your arrival and if information is not submitted you won’t be eligible for the fully vaccinated traveler exemption, and you may be subject to delays, fines or enforcement action. Download the app here.
Ensure you’ll be able to obtain a COVID-19 molecular test at your destination before returning to Canada.
All travelers 5 years of age or older, regardless of citizenship or vaccination status must provide proof of a COVID-19 negative molecular test result to enter Canada. The accepted molecular tests include: PCR (Polymerase chain reaction), NAT (Nucleic acid test), NAAT (Nucleic acid amplification test), RTLAMP (Reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification. Antigen tests are not accepted. They must be taken in the United states within 72 hours of your planned entry into Canada. Proof must include: traveler name and date of birth, name and civic address of the laboratory / clinic / facility / that administered the test, the date on which the test was conducted, the type of test conducted, and the test result.
Check your Travel Insurance covers COVID-19 expenses.
The Public Health Agency of Canada is continuing to advise travelers, regardless of their vaccination status, to avoid non-essential travel outside of Canada. The level 3 advisory prevents claims being made with regular Travel Medical and Trip Cancellation and Interruption due to COVID-19 reasons. New variants of concern have been identified and are circulating in the United States. Goose’s COVID-19 Insurance is an annual policy intended for unexpected medical expenses, trip interruption and cancellation, and meals and accommodations due to COVID-19 when you are traveling abroad. It provides up to $500,000 in coverage per trip for as low as $124 per year.
Wear a mask.
Wearing a mask over your nose and mouth is required on planes, buses, trains, and other forms of public transportation traveling into, within or out of the United States. In high numbers of COVID-19 cases, consider wearing a mask in crowded settings and for activities with close contact with others who are not fully vaccinated. Follow recommendations and requirements at your destination, including mask wearing and social distancing.
Currently the only difference between traveling to the United States by flight or by land is that airlines are continuing to require Canadians to take a rapid antigen test prior to departure. Here is a link to the Embassy of Canada to the United States, in Washington D.C. if you have any other inquiries.
Don’t forget to have fun!
We have waited 19 months for the borders to reopen – don’t forget to have fun during your travels and enjoy the much needed R&R.
