Here's how the new arrival testing system will work for foreign travellers from non-U.S. destinations

Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos sought today to clarify complicated new COVID-19-related travel requirements, saying that all passengers coming from non-U.S. foreign destinations will soon have to undergo mandatory testing on arrival.

Alarmed by the new omicron coronavirus variant, the federal government announced this week it would make these incoming passengers get another COVID-19 test when they arrive in Canada. This new test is in addition to the pre-departure molecular test that all travellers must undergo before leaving for Canada.

While Duclos had said the program would take effect immediately, airport operators told CBC News and other media outlets that they had few details from Ottawa about how this program would be implemented. Days after it was set to take effect, Health Canada's website still makes no mention of the new mandatory arrival testing.

Speaking to reporters on Parliament Hill today, Duclos said the mandatory arrival testing program is starting to roll out.

Here's how the arrival testing regime will work, as described by Duclos:

Once a fully vaccinated passenger arrives at a Canadian airport from a non-U.S. foreign destination, they will either be swabbed by a public health nurse or get a take-home test.

That traveller must then self-isolate at home or at their designated quarantine destination (such as a hotel) while they await the results of the test. It may take up to three days to get a result.

If that traveller gets a negative result, they're free to leave self-isolation and move about as they normally would. If the test is positive, they must stay in quarantine for 14 days.

If a passenger has a connecting flight, they get swabbed or collect a take-home test and then continue on to their final destination.

If, for example, an inbound passenger from Hong Kong arrives in Vancouver to catch a connecting flight to Kelowna, B.C., that traveller would get tested or pick up their at-home test in Vancouver before proceeding to the connecting flight. That passenger would then have to self-isolate in Kelowna while they await the results of the test.

Travellers who are given a take-home test self-administer the test while on a video link with a nurse from a private company, such as Dynacare, LifeLabs or Switch Health, to make sure it is done right. The specimen is then sent via courier to a laboratory. The instructions are included in the testing kit handed out at the airport.

None of these arrival testing requirements apply to fully vaccinated travellers coming directly from a destination in the U.S.

For example, a fully vaccinated traveller flying non-stop from Fort Lauderdale, Florida to Montreal would only have to do the pre-departure molecular test 72 hours before departing for Canada. They would not need to subject themselves to an arrival test upon landing in Montreal.

Duclos said the U.S. policy may change in time.