Ottawa dropping pre-arrival PCR test for fully vaccinated travellers as of Feb. 28 | CBC News

Antigen tests are typically cheaper than a molecular test and can provide results within minutes. 

Also starting Feb. 28, unvaccinated children under the age of 12 entering Canada with fully vaccinated parents will no longer have to avoid schools, daycare or other crowded settings for 14 days, said Duclos.

Currently, travellers entering Canada must show proof of a negative molecular test taken within 72 hours of their departing flight or planned arrival at the land border. 

Fully vaccinated travellers may also be randomly selected for a PCR test upon arrival. Duclos said its arrival testing program will remain in effect, but travellers won’t have to quarantine while awaiting results.

Ottawa is currently randomly testing thousands of vaccinated travellers daily upon arrival. Those who return from trips outside the U.S. must quarantine while waiting for results. Some travellers have reported waiting up to six days, or longer if they were given an at-home test, which must be shipped to a lab.

The government also announced plans to lift its current advisory against non-essential travel abroad. 

Duclos said the government is making the changes because of improving pandemic conditions.

“We have passed the peak of the latest wave driven by the Omicron variant,” he said. “In addition, after two years of following individual public health measures, such as getting vaccinated, wearing masks, keeping our distance and staying at home if sick, Canadians know what to do to keep themselves and each other safe.”

Duclos added that travel measures could change depending on the direction of the pandemic. 

“The border measures I have just outlined are transitory,” he said. “We will be reassessing them in the following weeks and months.”

If conditions continue to improve, he said, further testing measures could be dropped, such as the testing requirement for Canadians visiting the United States for short trips under 72 hours. 

Travel rules faced criticism

Over the past several months, members of the travel industry and some physicians have lobbied the government to nix all its testing requirements for fully vaccinated travellers. 

People must pay for their pre-arrival molecular test, which can cost upward of $100.

Meanwhile, the government is spending millions of dollars to randomly test thousands of vaccinated travellers daily upon arrival.

Critics have argued both the pre- and post-arrival tests are a waste of money, as Omicron has already spread across Canada. 

“What are we trying to protect against? Omicron is here,” said Infectious diseases specialist Dr. Zain Chagla in an interview last week.

“Long term living with this virus is making sure people are immunized correctly, making sure that people understand risks, making sure that people have access to care locally. I don’t think travel is necessarily going to impede that.”