Canada to Ease Visitor COVID-19 Testing Ahead of Tourist Season

Canada will remove mandatory COVID-19 testing for those entering the country as of April 1, a move being met with optimism and varied expectations in both Canada and United States.

Advance COVID-19 screening will no longer be required for visitors wishing to enter Canada via land, sea or air as of the first of the month. Random travelers will still be selected for testing at points of entry in the immediate future.

The decision by the Canadian government comes just in time for the start of the peak season for Alaska cruise ships, an industry that was virtually wiped out the past two years. Each passenger will still have to provide a negative antigen test taken not more than 24 hours before boarding a ship.

Laurie Trautman, director of the Border Policy Research Institute at Western Washington University in Bellingham, said she saw a return of same-day visitors and others making short trips across the border.

"So we had this brief period of time last December, where vaccinated Canadians who were traveling to the U.S. for just 72 hours were exempt from a testing requirement," she said. "And then that was revoked towards the end of December in response to the omicron variant. And during that little brief period of time in our region, we saw quite an uptick in travelers."

Trautman said many of these short trips are for personal visits, shopping or to visit recreational properties.