On December 17, 2021, the government of Canada lifted the travel ban for South African countries that had been cancelled in late November due to the spread of a new variant of the COVID-19 virus.
As of December 18, 2021, at 11:59 PM (EST) the temporary requirements have been terminated for travellers who have been in the 10 specific South African countries. These are:
Botswana
Egypt
Eswatini
Lesotho
Malawi
Mozambique
Namibia
Nigeria
South Africa and
Zimbabwe
In addition, as of December 21, 2021, the government will also require all Canadians returning from short trips to take a molecular pre-entry test.
The government is also advising Canadians to avoid non-essential travel outside of the country and there might be changes due to the travel restrictions. However, all fully vaccinated travellers must follow public health measures, including wearing a well-fitted and well-constructed mask, maintaining a list of contacts for the 14 days after entry to Canada, and exercising extra precautions by avoiding high-risk settings such as long-term care facilities.
The government of Canada is working closely with airport authorities, airlines, and testing providers and many other partners to increase capacity at airports, manage traveller flow and to make sure that the testing protocol is as efficient as possible.
It is important for all returning unvaccinated travellers to know that, they must continue to quarantine for 14 days. Also, all travellers arriving, by all modes of travel, must submit their information into ArriveCAN.