Fully vaccinated travelers from India can now travel to Canada starting from Tuesday, 07th September but they make a stopover in a third country to undergo an RT-PCR test.
It is important to note that many middle east destinations have recently opened up to Indian travelers, so those who wish to travel to Canada can now transit from places like Dubai and Abu Dhabi, etc.
Not just that, recently Turkey has also relaxed entry norms and did away with the 14-day mandatory quarantine for fully vaccinated passengers from India.
“Effective September 7, foreign nationals who qualify for the fully vaccinated traveler exemption can enter Canada for discretionary travel.”
Check if you qualify for the exemption
To qualify for the fully vaccinated traveler exemption, you must:
- be eligible to enter Canada on the specific date you enter
- have no signs or symptoms of COVID-19
- have received the full series of an accepted COVID-19 vaccine or a combination of accepted vaccines
- have received your last dose at least 14 days prior to the day you enter Canada
- Example: if your last dose was anytime on Thursday July 1st, then Friday July 16th would be the first day that you meet the 14 day condition
- upload your proof of vaccination in ArriveCAN
- meet all other entry requirements (for example, pre-entry test)
Accepted COVID-19 vaccines in Canada
- Pfizer-BioNTech (Comirnaty, tozinameran, BNT162b2)
- Moderna (mRNA-1273)
- AstraZeneca/COVISHIELD (ChAdOx1-S, Vaxzevria, AZD1222)
- Janssen/Johnson & Johnson (Ad26.COV2.S)
- Bharat Biotech (Covaxin, BBV152 A, B, C)
- Cansino (Convidecia, Ad5-nCoV)
- Gamalaya (Sputnik V, Gam-Covid-Vac)
- Sinopharm (BBIBP-CorV, Sinopharm-Wuhan)
- Sinovac (CoronaVac, PiCoVacc)
- Vector Institute (EpiVacCorona)
- Other
“In the past several months, Middle Eastern airports too were shut to Indians. So the only option before students traveling to Canada was to transit via countries like Egypt and Mexico, where they underwent an RT-PCR test. With Canada open to tourists from India as well, a holiday travel itinerary with a short stop in Dubai or Abu Dhabi could be planned,” said TOI in a report.
Fares for travel to Canada with a transit halt in a third country were comparatively cheaper as well. For travel this month-end and return in mid-October, the return fare on offer on the Mumbai-Toronto route with a transit halt in, say, London was priced at Rs 80-90,000. For a transit halt in the Middle East, the economic options were available only three-four weeks down the line, the TOI report added.