If you’re fully vaccinated and have proof of a negative COVID-19 test, getting into Canada is easy, but you’ll at least need a cell phone or computer.
I made the trip last weekend, which was easy, but with one rather uncertain glitch.
Like many other residents with friends who are infected, I waited in line last Wednesday for a nonsymptomatic test and received my negative result via computer on the SEARHC health portal on Friday afternoon.
As crossing into Canada requires proof of vaccination and a negative test taken within 72 hours of entry, I had about 18 hours to get to Canada Customs. An advance phone call to the station at Pleasant Camp directed me to Arrivecan, the website and app for registering proof of the medical requirements.
Then came the glitch. The customs agent also told me that I would receive a kit for a self-test when crossing into Canada, that I would need to make a Zoom-like phone call to health officials to complete the self-test, and that I would need to deliver the completed test to Shoppers Drug Mart in Whitehorse within 24 hours.
I asked what if I wasn’t going to Whitehorse, a 200-mile drive from our border with Canada. I was told I’d have to take that question up with Lifelabs, the company administering the test and there were fines attached to not completing the self-test.
Arrivecan is easy to navigate, even for a computer Luddite. I took photos of my vaccination proof and my negative test confirmation and attached them to the computer document as directed. Then I had to set an assigned time for my border crossing. As directed, I printed out hard copies of the finalized form to show at the border.
I made the big mistake of leaving my cell phone in Haines, so completing my self-test as directed posed a problem, but I was saved by serendipity. The Haines Junction public library was open Saturday and although public computers there didn’t have Zoom capability, the librarian on duty was kind enough to allow me to connect with Lifelabs over her land-line phone.
Telephonically, I was walked through the self-test with a Lifelabs representative.
Now, with my test complete, I was curious if there wasn’t some other option for delivering my test, as it comes with a mailing package, postage included. Could I just drop it in the mail at the Haines Junction post office? Or leave it inside the door at the village’s health office?
I’d gone north only to see my shadow and do some camping. I wasn’t determined to make it to Whitehorse. A Lifelabs representative told me there was one other option for remote areas: that a courier could be sent to pick up my completed self-test.
Really? A person would be assigned to drive from Whitehorse, 100 miles away, just to get my kit? That sounded a bit preposterous. But as clouds and rain moved in and camping lost its appeal and I considered worst-case scenarios like being banned from entering Canada, I drove into Whitehorse and delivered my test.
Will Lifelabs or their representative really drive from Whitehorse down to, say, Rainy Hollow, B.C., a 400-mile round-trip to pick up the self-test of a U.S. citizen who just wanted to go for a walk in Chilkat Pass?
Technically, the answer appears to be “yes.” To find out how, call Lifelabs at 1-877-313-4982. I’d be curious to know.