Who can travel to Canada? Canada’s Response to COVID-19

By June 15, 2020 COVID-19

The Government of Canada announced travel restrictions in March of this year. These restrictions remain in place except for a new update published on June 10, 2020 indicating that immediate family members of Permanent Residents are also exempt from the travel ban.

Before making any plans to travel to Canada make sure you are eligible to enter Canada. Currently, Canada is denying entry to non-Canadian citizens and non-permanent residents, with an exception for U.S. citizens, air crews, diplomats, and immediate family members of Canadians or Permanent Residents of Canada.

If you do not have immediate family in Canada, you must be travelling for an essential reason, and fall under one of the following:

  • temporary foreign workers
  • some international students
  • some approved permanent residents
  • immediate family members with written authorization from Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) to reunite with a temporary resident of Canada (see below for more information)
  • transiting passengers (must remain in the secure transit area of a Canadian airport to complete their connection)
  • members of the Canadian forces, visiting forces, Department of National Defence and their immediate family members
  • accredited diplomats and immediate family members (includes North Atlantic Treaty Organization [NATO], those under the United Nations Headquarters Agreement, other organizations)
  • air and marine crew members
  • French citizens who live in Saint-Pierre and Miquelon and have only been in Canada, the US or Saint-Pierre and Miquelon during the 14 days before the day they seek to enter Canada
  • any person who does not pose a significant harm to public health, in the opinion of the Chief Public Health Officer of Canada, and who will provide an essential service while in Canada
  • any person whose presence in Canada is in the national interest, in the opinion of the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship; Minister of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness; or Minister of Foreign Affairs
  • any person who is coming at the invitation of the Minister of Health for the purpose of COVID-19 assistance
  • any person whose purpose is to make medical deliveries

Note that Canada is also limiting incoming international flights to four major airports (Toronto, Montreal, Calgary, and Vancouver).

Read more here: https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/coronavirus-covid19/travel-restrictions-exemptions.html#other

Ronald Poulton

Ronald Poulton

Immigration lawyer Ronald Poulton will attempt to steer the reader over the ever-changing landscape of immigration law and policy to ask the question: What's law got to do with it?

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