Canada is relaxing its Covid-19 protocols that will make it easier for cruise ship passengers to visit the country.
On Monday, Transport Canada announced it will remove all Covid-19-related entry restrictions as of October 1, 2022.
This would include testing, quarantine and isolation requirements. As it relates to cruise ships, cruise passengers will not have to do pre-board tests or prove they have been vaccinated.
- No more random Covid-19 tests for travellers coming into Canada
- Unvaccinated Canadians will not need to isolate when they return to the country
- Travellers will not have to self-monitor or report symptoms of COVID-19 anymore
- Some guidelines will remain in place, which Public Health Agency of Canada said would line up with the U.S.
After the United States dropped many of its health requirements earlier this year, Canada was one of the few countries with Covid-19 testing and vaccination requirements in place.
October 1st will be when the change kicks in
Among other things, it means the ArriveCan app will not be mandatory when the order expires. Use of ArriveCan will be optional after September 30th
Canada did add a caveat that protocols could return, should they see a need for them.
Royal Caribbean has not made any changes to the pre-cruise testing protocols at this time, but there's usually a lag factor for any cruise line to internalize government policy changes and issue new protocols.
The change in policy is too late for the Alaska cruise season, but there's still a few autumn cruises on Canada's east coast that could benefit from the change.
If your cruise visits Canadian ports of call prior to October 1, then the old rules would still apply related to required testing, vaccination, and documentation protocols.
Why the change now?
Canada made its policy change for a variety of reasons.
The Public Health Agency of Canada said the changes were "facilitated by a number of factors, including modelling that indicates that Canada has largely passed the peak of the Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 fuelled wave, Canada’s high vaccination rates, lower hospitalization and death rates, as well as the availability and use of vaccine boosters (including new bivalent formulation), rapid tests, and treatments for Covid-19."
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said the decision to drop border restrictions was influenced by public health officials. “There is the sense that these border measures were no longer effective, or no longer justified,” he said.
