US-Canada Border Vaccine Mandate Set to Take Effect

ALEXANDRIA, Virginia:

It has been communicated to us that the vaccine mandate for essential workers, including truck drivers, crossing into Canada will require a COVID-19 vaccine. Regardless of nationality, the mandate is set to take effect on Saturday, January 15 and pertain to both U.S. and Canadian drivers who seek to cross the border into Canada. The Biden Administration’s corresponding mandate on foreign drivers entering the U.S. will go into effect on January 22.

While constantly referring to the environment that this mandate could create, we had hoped that both U.S. and Canadian officials would recognize the effects such a rule would have on our industry’s capacity levels, however, neither the Canadian nor U.S. officials have changed their position on this matter.

Please be advised that to cross the border into Canada, drivers must download the ArriveCAN app. As I understand the mandate, in order to cross the border, drivers must show that they have been fully vaccinated from COVID-19 and use the ArriveCAN app. If both requirements are not met, the driver will be turned away beginning on Saturday.

As we can probably predict, mandates such as these are certain to cause delays and increased issues regarding our supply chain. If you begin to encounter any problems due to the cross border vaccine requirement, please don’t hesitate to forward this information to me. As we continue down this path, this information could be crucial as we continue to discuss this situation and the effects it has on our industry to deliver freight safely and efficiently.

For more details on the requirements for entry into Canada, please see the following resources:

Canada Vaccine Requirements

Canada Travel Requirements

ArriveCAN App Requirements

Accepted Vaccines in Canada

For more details on the U.S. requirements for foreign nationals, please see the following resources:

DHS Vaccine Requirements Announcement

U.S. Cross Border Vaccine Fact Sheet

U.S. Cross Border Vaccine FAQs

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Thank you,

David Heller
Vice President, Government Affairs