The Government of Canada has announced that as of yesterday, September 7, all European citizens who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 can travel to Canada for minor purposes.
To be allowed to enter the country, travelers from the EU must prove that they have received one of the doses of vaccine recognized as valid proof of immunity in Canada, and must submit a negative COVID-19 test result before arrival.
Therefore, to be eligible to enter Canada, travelers from the EU must provide proof that they have been vaccinated with one of the accepted COVID-19 vaccines listed below:
Pfizer-BioNTech (Comirnaty, tozinomer, BNT162b2)
Moderna (mRNA-1273)
AstraZeneca / COVISHIELD (ChAdOx1-S, Vaxzevria, AZD1222)
Janssen / Johnson & Johnson (Ad26.COV2.S)
It was emphasized that combination-dose vaccines are also eligible for entry into Canada, as both doses are among those listed above.
In addition, for travelers to be considered fully immunized, the vaccination certificate must state that 14 days have elapsed since the last dose of vaccine.
With regard to the vaccination certificate, the Government of Canada emphasized that the document should be in English or French only and should be uploaded digitally to ArriveCAN. Therefore, travelers from the EU who do not have a vaccination certificate in one of these two languages must make a certified translation of their document and then upload it to ArriveCAN.
However, they still need to keep both the original proof of vaccination and the certified translation during the trip, as well as to ensure that the certified translation bears the seal of the professional translators’ association.
As for travelers who have recovered from coronavirus, the Canadian authorities have stated that they need a full series of recognized vaccines against COVID-19 or a combination of vaccines to obtain an entry permit. Therefore, those who have received only one dose of the vaccine, other than Janssen, are not entitled to a travel exemption.
As for children under the age of 12 who have not yet been vaccinated, the authorities have noted that they are exempt from quarantine provided they are accompanied by fully vaccinated travelers. However, they still need to comply with all testing requirements before arriving, arriving, and testing on the eighth day.
On the contrary, unvaccinated young people between the ages of 12 and 17 are required to comply with all testing and quarantine requirements, whether or not they are accompanied by fully vaccinated travelers.