Canada to drop COVID test requirement for travellers from China

The Canadian government is ending the mandatory COVID-19 test requirement for anyone travelling to Canada from China, Hong Kong or Macao as of Friday.

The government mandated pre-boarding tests for people coming from those places back in January after China removed long-standing public health restrictions, causing a countrywide outbreak of the virus.

The government said it was concerned about reports of a dramatic increase in COVID-19 cases in China, and a lack of data available about potential variants that could be spreading through the country.

At the time the Public Health Agency of Canada indicated the test requirement would remain in place until at least April 5.

“Since Canada and other countries put in place temporary border measures in January 2023, data from China, the international community, and wastewater sampling conducted in Canada, have not detected any new variants of concern,” read a statement released by Canadian officials.

The move to harden border restrictions for travellers from China drew criticism from some infectious disease experts who feared it would do little to stop the global spread of the virus and could worsen anti-Chinese discrimination.

The United States ended a similar pre-boarding test requirement last week.

The decision by Canadian officials means there are no longer any federal COVID-19 border measures in place at this time.

Files from The Canadian Press were used in this report