Canada is rolling over travel restrictions until November 30.
On the same day it announced its historic Immigration Levels Plan 2021-2023, to admit over 401,000 immigrants per year beginning next year.
Some people are exempt from travel restrictions, such as:
• Canadian citizens (including dual citizens) or permanent residents;
• certain people who have been approved for Canadian permanent residence;
• certain temporary foreign workers;
• certain international students;
• protected persons;
• immediate family members of Canadians;
• extended family members of Canadians;
• people coming to Canada for compassionate reasons; of the following situations :
to be present during the final moments of life for a loved one,
to provide support or care for someone who is critically ill;
to provide medical support to a person who needs it
to attend a funeral, or end of life ceremony.
The only exemptions to the mandatory 14-day quarantine requirement are for the following travelers to Canada:
• crew members;
• people invited by the health minister to help with the COVID-19 response, and other healthcare workers;
• members of visiting forces who are coming to work;
• people coming to receive medical services within 36 hours of their arrival;
• crossing the border in a trans-border community;
• people crossing into Canada aboard a “vessel” for the purposes of research, as long as they stay on the vessel;
In all cases, Canadian border services officers have the final say on who gets to enter the country.
Canada has a separate order in place that has also limited cross border travel between it and the U.S. since March. This order was extended for the seventh time earlier this month.
The travel restrictions have reduced immigration to Canada significantly. Canada aimed to welcome 341,000 immigrants this year but is on track to welcome 200,000 or fewer because of disruptions caused by COVID-19.
To compensate, Canada announced earlier in the day it would significantly hike its targets to 401,000 new permanent residents in 2021. The country aims to welcome over 1.2 million immigrants over the next three years to support its post-COVID economic recovery.
