New Restrictions for Canada

AdiNoelle

I am Canadian, with a plane ticket to visit my fiancé in Germany this March. The Canadian government announced today that anyone arriving into Canada from abroad must complete a mandatory 3 day hotel quarantine with a $2000 price tag. International planes are now only allowed to land in Montreal, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver. That will double the price of my trip, which is a heavy burden to carry. I am not canceling. Love is essential.

For everyone out there who is struggling, hurting, and so tired of being patient, my heart goes out to you. ❤

ellenmoto

Dear AdiNoelle

My two sons (24 & 20) both live in Kelowna, B.C., and are Japanese-American dual citizens. Both have lived in B.C. from 8 - 5 years, respectively on student visas and now my older son on a post-grad working visa. My husband and I live in Japan and have not seen them for a year (for me) and a year and a half for my husband. We are planning a trip in late March to WA as I begin my sabbatical there at Western WA Uni. Our immediate plan is to head up to Kelowna to see the boys. Do you recommend that we fly or is driving possible. I understand that we have to request special permission via governmental forms and apply for the ESTA visa, but we do not know if it is better to drive (or if that is even possible) or fly directly to Kelowna. If you have any advice or information I would greatly appreciate it. From
your post it sounds like we now have to consider this additional hotel stay. Does that take the place of a 2 week quarantine, if entering the country with a negative PCR test? My apologies for the long reply/question. Thank you and sending good thoughts as you work on your situation to be reconnected with your fiance. This is such a trying time for those of us separated by such vast distances from those we love.

AdiNoelle

ellenmoto Hello. I don't know as much about getting into Canada as a foreign national, but I will tell you what I know. There does seem to be different rules about flying vs. driving in. You do not need to quarantine in a hotel for the 3 days when crossing a land border, but you do still need to quarantine in a home for 14 days. You will need to quarantine away from your children, or show that you can be seperate from them enough for those 14 days. I have a son, and he will have to stay with family for my quarantine because he is not allowed in the house during that time. For flying in, you will need a 3 day hotel quarantine. Your flight will arrive in Vancouver. After you get the test back, you head to your destination and complete the rest of the 14 day quarantine there (about 10 days likely). If you test positive, you go to a government facility for at least 14 days. So far they haven't started the hotel quarantine, but they are promising any day now. They also say land borders can change at any time.

https://www.canada.ca/en/immigration-refugees-citizenship/services/coronavirus-covid19/visitors/immediate-family.html

I'm sure you've visited this page, but I thought I'd link it just in case. It goes through the documentation to get ready.

Good luck!

ArminArend

On February 22 they have started the "hotel quarantines" as they were announced. Please think about going through with flying in. I would not. You basically have no rights if you do that. At the moment driving in sounds like the better idea. But please try to always check for new information in order that you do not go there and have to turn around or get whisked away.