Flight to canada with stopover, covid PCR 72 hours validity coverage starts from first leg or second leg?

[artmesh]

Hi fellow forum mates, need help for those who have experience flying recently with stopover.

As above, the requirements from canada.ca says the covid test must be conducted within 72 hours of the traveller’s scheduled departure to Canada.
It's not so clear for flights with stopover. For e.g., my flight has a stopover at Doha. So does the 72 hours start from my first leg departure, or do I have to ensure it is valid for the second leg from Doha to Toronto?

Another question which caused me some confusion, the Air Canada agent told me my covid test validity must still be valid by the time I land and go through Toronto immigrations. But canada.ca website only says prior to departure. Can anyone help to confirm?

 

[steaky]

I think it's from the first leg of your departure.

Anyways, good luck about taking Air Canada. Recently a pair of sisters were refused boarding the second leg of their trip:

https://beta.ctvnews.ca/local/british-columbia/2021/1/12/1_5264473.html

 

[navinball]

must be valid from the start of the second or final leg. they check the covid tests during boarding.

 

[Bloodrose]

I think it's from the first leg of your departure.

Anyways, good luck about taking Air Canada. Recently a pair of sisters were refused boarding the second leg of their trip:

https://beta.ctvnews.ca/local/british-columbia/2021/1/12/1_5264473.html

Technically they were denied by ANA and not Air Canada.

 

[Bloodrose]

Hi fellow forum mates, need help for those who have experience flying recently with stopover.

As above, the requirements from canada.ca says the covid test must be conducted within 72 hours of the traveller’s scheduled departure to Canada.
It's not so clear for flights with stopover. For e.g., my flight has a stopover at Doha. So does the 72 hours start from my first leg departure, or do I have to ensure it is valid for the second leg from Doha to Toronto?

Another question which caused me some confusion, the Air Canada agent told me my covid test validity must still be valid by the time I land and go through Toronto immigrations. But canada.ca website only says prior to departure. Can anyone help to confirm?

It's only for departure and it's not an immigration requirement. I'm not sure if the 72 hours is from the time of your flight to Canada or initial departure though. That's a very good question atm since there are fewer flights and some people face longer than normal connections.

 

[artmesh]

It's only for departure and it's not an immigration requirement. I'm not sure if the 72 hours is from the time of your flight to Canada or initial departure though. That's a very good question atm since there are fewer flights and some people face longer than normal connections.

Thanks to everyone's replies, so far I have been getting different responses on transit flights and COVID test validity. And its difficult to get through to immigration.

Can I also ask another question, when we submit the BSF 247 and BSF 186 forms during landing, does the immigration officer return both forms stamped or only BSF 186? I cannot remember what happened and I only have a stamped BSF 186 on hand.
And can I resubmit another set of these two forms if I have been away for a while? canada.ca seems to suggest as long I have been away for a year, I can declare again upon returning.

BSF 247 (Cross-Border Currency or Monetary Instruments Report (E677)) and the BSF 186 form (Personal Effects Accounting Document),

 

[RookieMistake]

Hi fellow forum mates, need help for those who have experience flying recently with stopover.

As above, the requirements from canada.ca says the covid test must be conducted within 72 hours of the traveller’s scheduled departure to Canada.
It's not so clear for flights with stopover. For e.g., my flight has a stopover at Doha. So does the 72 hours start from my first leg departure, or do I have to ensure it is valid for the second leg from Doha to Toronto?

Another question which caused me some confusion, the Air Canada agent told me my covid test validity must still be valid by the time I land and go through Toronto immigrations. But canada.ca website only says prior to departure. Can anyone help to confirm?

Assuming you're flying AC (only non-stop I know DOH-YYZ): https://www.aircanada.com/ca/en/aco/home/book/travel-news-and-updates/2020/covid-19.html

Look for the section on:
NEW!
Pre-departure COVID-19 Test Requirement for all travellers entering Canada[/CODE]

Q6: Is the 72 hours starting at the beginning of my trip or when I will be arriving in Canada? Is the time related to when I get the test or when my results are provided?

1. Your COVID-19 PCR test must have been conducted within 72 hours of the scheduled departure time of your direct flight to Canada. If your flight is delayed due to unforeseen circumstances, your result will still be valid.

Meaning it should be within 72 hours of boarding your plane from DOH-YYZ. But ya it'd be best to confirm once again with AC and GC as rules may change on a daily basis. If anyone's denied boarding, they'll probably use the time window at the last direct flight gate (DOH, in your case)

This is a handy tool to check your possible test date windows (company that is doing COVID-19 tests for us here in ON for travel pre-clearance) - https://www.lifelabs.com/flyclear/#fly-form
Inputs are your travel dates and times and testing window (72 hours for entry into CA)

Side note: GC has introduced requirements for entry and after entry in Canada (ArriveCAN) - https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/coronavirus-disease-covid-19/arrivecan.html#a2

 

[RookieMistake]

Also, just FYI, there is an active COVID-19 test plan at YYZ (introduced last week) - https://www.torontopearson.com/en/healthy-airport/covid-19-testing-at-toronto-pearson#testing

If you're a landed PR (guessing you are since you have your BSF forms stamped) - you may be eligible for the testing pilot.

 

[artmesh]

Assuming you're flying AC (only non-stop I know DOH-YYZ): https://www.aircanada.com/ca/en/aco/home/book/travel-news-and-updates/2020/covid-19.html

Look for the section on:
NEW!
Pre-departure COVID-19 Test Requirement for all travellers entering Canada[/CODE]



Meaning it should be within 72 hours of boarding your plane from DOH-YYZ. But ya it'd be best to confirm once again with AC and GC as rules may change on a daily basis. If anyone's denied boarding, they'll probably use the time window at the last direct flight gate (DOH, in your case)

This is a handy tool to check your possible test date windows (company that is doing COVID-19 tests for us here in ON for travel pre-clearance) - https://www.lifelabs.com/flyclear/#fly-form
Inputs are your travel dates and times and testing window (72 hours for entry into CA)

Side note: GC has introduced requirements for entry and after entry in Canada (ArriveCAN) - https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/coronavirus-disease-covid-19/arrivecan.html#a2

Hey thanks for the helpful link, yup I'm flying DOH-YYZ for second leg. From the description, it looks like my covid tests need to be valid for the second leg as well.

Your COVID-19 PCR test must have been conducted within 72 hours of the scheduled departure time of your direct flight to Canada.

And thanks for the info on the covid-19 test at YYZ as well, though it does not seem to be as generous as the Alberta initiative which allows those testing negative on arrival to have a less restrictive quarantine period. I guess this is probably a starting rollout to test the effectiveness before any further relaxation.

 

[Wiggy]

Also, just FYI, there is an active COVID-19 test plan at YYZ (introduced last week) - https://www.torontopearson.com/en/healthy-airport/covid-19-testing-at-toronto-pearson#testing

If you're a landed PR (guessing you are since you have your BSF forms stamped) - you may be eligible for the testing pilot.

The thing with this is that, apart from helping collect statistics, there is little incentive to participate, you still have to register with ArriveCan, you still have to provide a negative PCR within 72 hours and have to Quarantine for 14 days etc. So apart from participating in a nice study what's in it for the traveller?

 

[Bloodrose]

Thanks to everyone's replies, so far I have been getting different responses on transit flights and COVID test validity. And its difficult to get through to immigration.

Can I also ask another question, when we submit the BSF 247 and BSF 186 forms during landing, does the immigration officer return both forms stamped or only BSF 186? I cannot remember what happened and I only have a stamped BSF 186 on hand.
And can I resubmit another set of these two forms if I have been away for a while? canada.ca seems to suggest as long I have been away for a year, I can declare again upon returning.

BSF 247 (Cross-Border Currency or Monetary Instruments Report (E677)) and the BSF 186 form (Personal Effects Accounting Document),

If you have landed already but spent more than 12 months outside of Canada then you can submit a new personal effects/goods to follow document upon arrival at the airport. Your current stamped one would also be acceptable. It's entirely up to you.

My personal experience on personal effects though is that Canada doesn't take it as seriously as many people assume. They're probably not going to go through everything you're bringing/shipping with a fine toothcomb. Their main concerns are alcohol, tobacco and high value items such as gold jewellery.

 

[Bloodrose]

The thing with this is that, apart from helping collect statistics, there is little incentive to participate, you still have to register with ArriveCan, you still have to provide a negative PCR within 72 hours and have to Quarantine for 14 days etc. So apart from participating in a nice study what's in it for the traveller?

Jack shit. When I first saw that link in this thread, I was hoping that Ontario were launching a similar policy to Alberta but it looks like that isn't the case. Unless you enjoy spending time in airports or having cotton swabs stuck up your nose, I can't see why anyone would want to do that.