How some Canadian travellers are getting free COVID-19 tests in the U.S. to return home

When Ian Hutcheon inquired about getting a COVID-19 test last month at a Walgreens pharmacy in Gold Canyon, Ariz., before his flight home to Calgary, he got a pleasant surprise.

"I happened to ask to speak to the pharmacist, who said, 'Oh, we can test you for free,'" said Hutcheon. "I was a little incredulous, but he insisted."

Travellers entering Canada must provide proof of a negative molecular COVID-19 test taken within 72 hours of their entry. And those molecular tests — such as the popular PCR test — can cost hundreds of dollars.

As a result, Canada's testing requirement has sparked protests from politicians and tourism groups on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border, who complain the tests can be cost-prohibitive.

But CBC News interviewed six Canadians who recently travelled to the U.S., and got a free molecular test at a pharmacy or a clinic before their return to Canada. 

"It's mind-blowing to think that people are paying $200 for those tests," said Andrew D'Amours, who is the co-founder of the travel information website, Flytrippers. 

D'Amours, of Trois-Rivières, Que., has taken three free tests in the U.S. and written about the topic for his site. 

"It's so easy to get it for free," he said. 

However, there are caveats: Travellers may not be guaranteed to get their test results in time, and may not find free tests at their U.S. destination.

But the stars aligned for Hutcheon and his wife, Colleen McMechan. At Walgreens, they each took a self-administered free Nucleic Acid Amplification Test (NAAT) test, which is listed as an accepted test by the Canadian government. 

The couple had booked their tests online one day in advance, listing their hotel when asked to provide a U.S. address. Hutcheon said they faced no issues when they drove their rental car to Walgreens the following day to take the test at the pharmacy's drive-thru testing site.

"They took the swab and about two hours later, the results appeared in my email inbox," he said. "We printed them and took them with us to the airport and it was all smooth sailing."

The tests that Hutcheon and other Canadian travellers have received aren't actually free, but instead funded by the U.S. government. It has put measures in place to make low or no-cost COVID-19 tests available to everyone in the U.S., including those who don't have U.S. medical insurance. 

"They want people to get tested," said Jeremy Gelbart, co-founder of BeeperMD, a COVID-19 testing company that comes to people's homes — or hotel rooms — to provide free PCR tests. (Individuals who book a same-day test for one person, however, must pay a booking fee.)