If you plan to travel to Canada in the next six months and you get Covid, get a PCR test while you have symptoms or some time shortly thereafter TO ENSURE YOU RECEIVE A POSITIVE RESULT. That is the key. If this applies to you, you do not need to satisfy the testing requirement 72 hours prior to arrival. In fact you want to avoid this as you are at risk of receiving a false positive that would derail your plans.

From the government website:

When you arrive at the border, you must present an accepted negative molecular test result (paper or electronic proof) or proof of a previous positive molecular test result taken between 15 and 180 days (starting January 15, 2022, between 11 and 180 days ago) that includes:

traveller name and date of birth
name and civic address of the laboratory/clinic/facility that administered the test
the date on which the test was taken
the type of test taken
the test result
Keep proof of your test results with you for the 14-day period that begins on the day you enter Canada.

Thats really interesting. Thanks for posting.

So my son who is going on my Quetico trip with us crossing the border July 2nd had covid. He had a positive PCR taken on December 26th of 2021. That is over 6 months prior to our entry so I assume he will need to take the test then. That would really suck to get a false positive because he had it just a bit over 6 months.

Ryan

Gaidin53: "So my son who is going on my Quetico trip with us crossing the border July 2nd had covid. He had a positive PCR taken on December 26th of 2021. That is over 6 months prior to our entry so I assume he will need to take the test then. That would really suck to get a false positive because he had it just a bit over 6 months.


Ryan"

If I was traveling in six months I wouldn't be worried at all about waiting until then to produce a negative test. It's plenty of time. And testing requirements may not even exist by then. Who knows?

Man I hope things get less stringent! Like to get back to a more normal life! I’m a bit of a planner especially for this trip so I’m way overboard on all aspects of planning! Really for all my canoe trips! I don’t need to plan my BWCA trips this year since they are both trips I was supposed to take last year but didn’t due to fire closures and had already planned.

I’m more just looking at things now and going to prep the Arrive can app so our vaccinations are in passport information is in and stuff. I will definitely a month or two out be scheduling anything that needs to be scheduled though for testing.

Ryan

Keep in mind Canada may start to require booster shots,so if you haven’t been vaccinated might want to get you shots within 6 months of trip to avoid having to get booster

I have read this and CBSA site and maybe confused, but it seems in addition to proof of being fully vacinated, you need a PCR test 15 to 180 days prior - positive or negative. The 72 hour requirement seems gone. Did I misread this?

It does seem they maybe increasing testing at border crossings and airports.

billconner: "I have read this and CBSA site and maybe confused, but it seems in addition to proof of being fully vacinated, you need a PCR test 15 to 180 days prior - positive or negative. The 72 hour requirement seems gone. Did I misread this?


It does seem they maybe increasing testing at border crossings and airports."

"Arriving by car, bus, boat, ferry or train
You must take a molecular test outside of Canada within 72 hours of your planned entry into Canada."

That's if you don't meet the 10-180 day positive PCR test condition.

Agreed, it could be more conspicuously located on the web page.

Thank you!

Another outlier that can factor in a trip into Canada currently is the possibility that a member of your group could be randomly selected to take a COVID test after crossing the border. This happened to us last November when entering Manitoba at the Emerson entry. A member of our group was given a typical take home test with instructions to have it available at the motel we were staying at for pick up by a courier the following day. Per instructions given with the test kit, he called a number which placed him in a video call with a nurse who then watched him administer the test to himself and place the swab in a container that went into a sealed envelope which he took down to the motel lobby for courier pickup. He was contacted by email 3 days later (the last day of our fishing trip) and the results were negative. Had the results been positive (have heard that false positives with those kits are a distinct possibility) I am not sure what we would have had to do. I imagine that we would not have been able to reenter the US until he could provide a negative test? If so that could really affects one's plan at getting back to a job, family, etc. Seems like overkill to me to administer that test when you already are providing proof of vaccinations and of a negative test within 72 hrs. If nothing else I hope they drop that as a possible border requirement before canoe season. Also, one thing that seemed strange was our buddy that had to take the random test discovered the expiration date on the kit he was given was close to 2 months old. When he asked the on-line nurse about that the following morning she told him not to worry about it.

I think US citizens are allowed back in and no test is required (by land at least).