I got the below language from IRCC's website. My understanding is that the rule for foreign nationals coming from a country other than the U.S. is stricter, they have to be both exempt from travel restrictions and traveling for essential purposes. But for the U.S., anybody can travel as long as it's for essential purposes.From what I understood, they mentioned people with exemptions (like copr approved before March 18, etc) can travel if coming from country other than US.
For US, they mentioned, travel only if the travel is essential and there is a list of essential activities like study, work, etc.
The list they give for essential travel is just for examples, not a full list of activities. I'm not sure if my understanding is correct, though...
Who can enter Canada
You can travel to and may be permitted to enter Canada if you’re a
- Canadian citizen
- Canadian permanent resident
- person registered under Canada’s Indian Act
- protected person
- foreign national who is coming for an essential (non-discretionary) purpose from the United States (U.S.)
- foreign national who is coming for an essential (non-discretionary) purpose from a country other than the U.S. and are exempt from the travel restrictions (see Exemptions to the travel restrictions for more information)