Soft landing - return boarding for unvaccinated

[Paul2019a]

Hi,

I need to do soft landing with my family from India.
However my teenage child is not vaccinated…as obviously we don’t have vaccinations for below 18 yet.

Recently I read somewhere that everyone above 12 must be fully vaccinated to be allowed to board flight from Canada.
Hence can anyone advise if we could face any issue for my child boarding at Canada airport while coming back to India - as he would be above 12 yrs but unvaccinated?

Thanks

 

[scylla]

Hi,

I need to do soft landing with my family from India.
However my teenage child is not vaccinated…as obviously we don’t have vaccinations for below 18 yet.

Recently I read somewhere that everyone above 12 must be fully vaccinated to be allowed to board flight from Canada.
Hence can anyone advise if we could face any issue for my child boarding at Canada airport while coming back to India - as he would be above 12 yrs but unvaccinated?

Thanks

Yes, he needs to be fully vaccinated in order to board the plane in Canada.

https://travel.gc.ca/travel-covid/travel-restrictions/domestic-travel

Mandatory vaccination to board
If you’re 12 years of age plus 4 months, or older, you’ll need to be fully vaccinated in order to board:

• domestic or international flights departing from most airports in Canada, including charter and foreign airlines carrying commercial passengers

 

[Paul2019a]

Hi Scylla,

Many thanks for your response.

The issue is that vaccinations haven’t started for below-18 in my country yet. Also, since we are planning to do soft landing and stay in Canada only for a few weeks, there is not enough time to register for and then get both doses done with the required gap in-between in Canada as well.
Hence the uncertainty.

Any advise or workaround, pls?

Will it help in any way if we can get 1st dose done before the travel, which would make my kid partially vaccinated?

Thanks.

Yes, he needs to be fully vaccinated in order to board the plane in Canada.

https://travel.gc.ca/travel-covid/travel-restrictions/domestic-travel

Mandatory vaccination to board
If you’re 12 years of age plus 4 months, or older, you’ll need to be fully vaccinated in order to board:

• domestic or international flights departing from most airports in Canada, including charter and foreign airlines carrying commercial passengers

 

[scylla]

Hi Scylla,

Many thanks for your response.

The issue is that vaccinations haven’t started for below-18 in my country yet. Also, since we are planning to do soft landing and stay in Canada only for a few weeks, there is not enough time to register for and then get both doses done with the required gap in-between in Canada as well.
Hence the uncertainty.

Any advise or workaround, pls?

Will it help in any way if we can get 1st dose done before the travel, which would make my kid partially vaccinated?

Thanks.

Canada was allowing those who are partially vaccinated to travel at first but that stopped a while ago and is no longer possible.

I'm not aware of any exceptions that would help you. Your son would have to fit one of the exceptions listed on the page I quoted above.

The options I see are to extend your stay in Canada to allow your son to be fully vaccinated before you leave. He would need to receive his second dose at least 14 days before you travel. Or to land without him. Although that will create challenges later in moving back to Canada and having to sponsor him for PR. You could also try asking IRCC for an extension to your landing dates for this reason to allow time for your son to be vaccinated in your home country.

 

[Paul2019a]

Thanks, Scylla…appreciate your inputs.