Under 12 quarantine upon return to Canada

[MegEliz]

We have an upcoming trip at the end of September and DH and I are both fully vaccinated so I was under the impression that with the new rules, our children would be able to do the 1 day test like us and then not have to quarantine when we got home. However, I was just on the Government of Canada website and reading the requirements for children under 12 who have traveled with vaccinated adults and it says that they can't do the following:

"
What your child cannot do for the next 14 days

• Attend a setting where they may have contact with vulnerable people (e.g., long-term care facility), including with people who are immune compromised, regardless of that person’s vaccination status or public health measures in place.
• Attend school, camp or day care.
• Travel on crowded public transportation that does not ensure physical distancing and masking (e.g., crowded subway).
• Attend large crowded settings, indoors or outdoors, such as an amusement park or sporting event.

"

I thought that this was the case but that it had changed. So now, I'm super choked, because I don't think I can have my older boys missing 3 weeks of school.... ERG.

Anyone else have to navigate this who is traveling during the school year with children under the age of 12?

 

[Safari23]

This is part of what's been holding us back from booking a trip. I was hoping maybe it would change, but with the fourth wave now here, I don't think it will anytime soon. Also, kids under 12 have to test to board the plane home, like we all do, but then also have to do a test on day 1 and day 8. From what I understand is they're both take home tests, that you have to do over zoom with a nurse. So a total of 3 tests to come home, on top of any tests to go to the country you're going to.

 

[bcwife76]

That's why if we go to Disneyland in November it will just be myself and our 13yr old DD, dh and DD10 will have to stay home. Though we are still on the fence about anyone going at this point....

 

[MegEliz]

Yes, I was really hoping things would change by now when we had started planning our trip in June. I wish it was just the 1 day amd 8 day test and then if they were clear we could send them to school.
it looks like we might have to cancel them. I can’t see them missing 3 weeks of school. That’s a lot

 

[azrivest]

That's why if we go to Disneyland in November it will just be myself and our 13yr old DD, dh and DD10 will have to stay home. Though we are still on the fence about anyone going at this point....

(this is without judgment whatsoever)

How does your child feel about you going to WDW without them? I've seen a few post about this on the forum and was really curious. I don't know how my kids would react if they knew I was going without them, because of COVID and quarantine.

We're planned for March Break 2022. I wonder if I would be able to go without them or not. Really interested in getting anyone's experience on this.

 

[bcwife76]

(this is without judgment whatsoever)

How does your child feel about you going to WDW without them? I've seen a few post about this on the forum and was really curious. I don't know how my kids would react if they knew I was going without them, because of COVID and quarantine.

We're planned for March Break 2022. I wonder if I would be able to go without them or not. Really interested in getting anyone's experience on this.

Surprisingly she is unphased and doesn't mind at all. My husband is more upset about being left behind If it were a Disney cruise then..well that just could not happen. She LOVES the cruises. If it were my 13yr old being left behind (either for the parks or a cruise) well....again yeah that would not fly, she would be furious! I'm not thrilled with the idea of leaving my husband and 10yr old behind, but we are planning on going with my bestie and her 13yr old son (she is leaving her 11yr old twins at home with her husband) and we've been talking about doing this trip since spring

 

[MegEliz]

At this point I’m so done with all of this stuff. I’m exhausted and ready for a break. We may just go anyhow and have the kids work from home for a few weeks. I would really like to go on this trip and I’m comfortable having them home with me for a few weeks from school. And if things change before then, that’s all the better but I’m not keeping my hopes up

 

[torontominnie]

The TDSB just put out their new screening frameworks and it says that they expect kids who have travelled to stay home for two weeks, even if their parents are exempt.

 

[MegEliz]

Yes I’ve rea

The TDSB just put out their new screening frameworks and it says that they expect kids who have travelled to stay home for two weeks, even if their parents are exempt.

Yeah I’ve read all the specifics on the government website. There is a detailed print out they give you with guidance for unvaccinated children who have travelled with vaccinated adults. I don’t think it will change anytime soon. Oh well.

 

[bcwife76]

Yes I’ve rea

Yeah I’ve read all the specifics on the government website. There is a detailed print out they give you with guidance for unvaccinated children who have travelled with vaccinated adults. I don’t think it will change anytime soon. Oh well.

Which is quite interesting because when we returned from the Dominican on August 21 we were NOT given this handout and our 10yr was NOT given a test at the airport, not was she given a day 8 test. What gives?

 

[badiggio]

Imo,it's to help prevent unvaccinated children from leaving the country and be put at risk.

 

[cdnSpinalTap]

We are a family of 5 and just returned home from Disney World. We are all vaccinated, except for our 11 yr old daughter. I was fully expecting that my daughter would be required to do a day 1 and day 8 test. The customs agent who was checking our tests and ArriveCan told us that she did not have to test because the rest of us are fully vaccinated. I found this strange and pressed it a bit, but he continued to say that it was not required for her. He gave us the handout (accessible from this link here) with a red "TX" markup from him at the top of the sheet.

We got our luggage and when we left the customs area and entered the testing line, the steward there looked at the sheet and told us that because of the red "TX" on the sheet, she was testing exempt and to be sure we kept that handout for 2 weeks.

To answer the OP's original question, according to the handout and what we were told, she is not in strict quarantine but as you mentioned, she can't go to school, etc. for the next 14 days. We knew this going in and given that she is only going into grade 6, we were not too concerned about her missing a couple of weeks of school.

 

[MegEliz]

We are a family of 5 and just returned home from Disney World. We are all vaccinated, except for our 11 yr old daughter. I was fully expecting that my daughter would be required to do a day 1 and day 8 test. The customs agent who was checking our tests and ArriveCan told us that she did not have to test because the rest of us are fully vaccinated. I found this strange and pressed it a bit, but he continued to say that it was not required for her. He gave us the handout (accessible from this link here) with a red "TX" markup from him at the top of the sheet.

We got our luggage and when we left the customs area and entered the testing line, the steward there looked at the sheet and told us that because of the red "TX" on the sheet, she was testing exempt and to be sure we kept that handout for 2 weeks.

To answer the OP's original question, according to the handout and what we were told, she is not in strict quarantine but as you mentioned, she can't go to school, etc. for the next 14 days. We knew this going in and given that she is only going into grade 6, we were not too concerned about her missing a couple of weeks of school.

Yes, that’s what I thought I read. Thanks for the confirmation

 

[MegEliz]

Which is quite interesting because when we returned from the Dominican on August 21 we were NOT given this handout and our 10yr was NOT given a test at the airport, not was she given a day 8 test. What gives?

Weird! Well I’ll keep you all posted on what ends up happening with us!

 

[accm]

We have two young kids, and we're going on a trip in a week. I need the break. When we booked the trip, we were hopeful that kids would be able to go to daycare/school, but that's obviously not the case (which is a good idea), so we're having my mom watch them. Our hotel stay actually includes 2 rapid antigen tests, and since we have no use for those, we might get the kids tested before we leave since they're not required to get tested.

I think it's such a personal decision at this point. In your position, I'd be considering how old your kids are, if the teachers will give them work to do at home, will they do it? How disruptive will it be to your work schedule for two weeks? And obviously the destination of the trip, since some trips I would consider higher risk than others.

 

[SnapesGirl]

I work at an immigration law firm have been dealing with hundreds of clients coming into Canada since the pandemic started. The one takeaway is that its the wild west at the borders and airports. Every client is given different information by different officers. Some are told to quarantine, some are not. Some are told they need to take another test, some are not. So what I advise every client is to expect to have to do the full 14 day quarantine and 1 and 8 day test and if you get to the border or airport and find out you don't have to, then that's a bonus.

 

[Safari23]

Which is quite interesting because when we returned from the Dominican on August 21 we were NOT given this handout and our 10yr was NOT given a test at the airport, not was she given a day 8 test. What gives?

What? Amazing! Score for you! My DD would be so happy about this!!

 

[shaunacb]

I suspect this confusion is widespread. What poor messsaging. Just heard a mom at our elementary school drop off say they were going to Mexico next week since "the kids don't have to quarantine anymore". She fully believes they can go to school as soon as they get home. They obviously need to put the "cannot attend school..." message out there, rather than having it buried in the fine print in a handout you have to download (or maybe won't see until you return to Canada)!

 

[bcwife76]

What? Amazing! Score for you! My DD would be so happy about this!!

I have to say I think my DD was quite relieved not to have to do any more tests, too! I mean, obvs she would have complied (and the test we all did in DR before returning was really no big deal) but she was still relieved lol Again we don't know WHY she wasn't given these two tests, so our situation could be the odd one out, it could just be that we landed on a Saturday night among so many OTHER people in customs and we had a connecting flight?? Pearson was not our destination (Vancouver was) so maybe that's why they sent us through with no tests?

 

[HappilyEverAfter80]

Which is quite interesting because when we returned from the Dominican on August 21 we were NOT given this handout and our 10yr was NOT given a test at the airport, not was she given a day 8 test. What gives?

As you know, they asked our fully vaccinated Ds12 to do the 8 day test (we also all tested at the airport) but I later called the government info line (2hrs on hold!) and was told no, he does not have to test on day 8, as he’s fully vaccinated. The agent said only unvaccinated kids under 12 have to test at airport (not just if randomly selected) and also complete day 8 test. Unvaccinated kids traveling with vaccinated parents have to do the 2 tests but do not have to quarantine, although they are asked not to go to school and sports (kind of a quarantine if you ask me).
This is essentially the information on the travel.gc website but I wanted to double check as Switch health was adamant DS had to test on day 8.
I think one of two things happened when you guys came back: really short connection at Pearson or people that don’t yet know what they are doing.
They would have had to test you in Toronto when you arrived on the international flight. The YYZ to YVR was domestic and I don’t believe they test those arrivals.
When we got to the customs agent on arrival at Pearson, they asked us if we had to catch a connecting flight to our home. We didn’t.
When I spoke to the agent on the phone she was surprised we were given wrong information at the airport. She just kept saying. Only unvaccinated minors under 12 have to be tested twice upon return.

Your family didn’t do anything wrong, ours didn’t either - it’s just navigating all these rules when even some airport personnel doesn’t know them well… interesting to say the least! Ha!
You’re going to California next in November right?
We have Disney world planned for December and one day I want to go and next day I remember all the testing and… ugh… lol
I’m hoping they’ll have tested enough vaccinated individuals in the next couple of months with mostly negative results that they’ll drop that requirement. Wishful thinking? Lol