ArriveCAN Is 'Mandatory' No Matter How Long Your Trip Is & Not Using It Can Cause Problems

A federal government official has reminded travellers that using ArriveCAN is "mandatory" when entering Canada whether they're Canadian citizens or foreign nationals and regardless of how long their trip is.

During a COVID-19 update on December 3, Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos spoke about Canada's new travel restrictions that have been put into place because of the Omicron variant and warned that not using ArriveCAN can still lead to serious consequences.

"I would also like to remind all travellers, Canadians and foreign nationals who travel by land, air or water for long or short trips to submit their health and travel information in the free ArriveCAN application or website before arriving in Canada," Duclos said. "This is mandatory."

If Canadians don't put their information into the app or site, they won't be eligible for exemptions to travel rules like quarantine.

Duclos also said that they could face long delays at the border and be fined.

"Foreign national travellers who don't submit their information through ArriveCan may be denied entry into Canada," he said.

The federal government introduced new travel rules on November 30 including one that requires all air travellers entering Canada from all countries except the U.S. to take a COVID-19 test at the airport they land in no matter their vaccination status.

According to the Canada Border Services Agency, there have been hundreds of cases of people being caught trying to enter the country at the land and air borders with suspected fake or fraudulent COVID-19 test results and vaccine passports as of the end of October 2021.