The instructions for travelers were somewhat confusing and cumbersome, but I was fully vaccinated with a booster, and figured out how to time the required COVID 19 test. My "enhanced driver's license" was not the passport replacement I had expected, as a passport was required for several of the many phases of preparation and execution of travel plans.
Everything went off without a hitch at Terminal 1, Minneapolis-St. Paul. Check-in, TSA check, boarding and service during flight were very efficient. I sailed through Customs & Immigration in Toronto, not noticing right away that I had been selected for an additional COVID test. The test required creating an account with switchhealth.ca, an easy enough task if only my glasses hadn't kept fogging up above the required mask. That added at least 30 minutes to my arrival ritual. Fortunately, the Stratford Airporter picked me up earlier than my scheduled 3:30 time, so I was at my sister's before I had expected to leave Toronto.
Then began the job of scheduling and paying for a COVID test to re-enter the United States on November 1. Shoppers Drug Mart webite was the front end for a LifeLabs COVID test registration. I opted for the more sensitive PCR test because I didn't want to risk the possibility of a false positive result that would delay my eligibility to return to the US, and also put me into quarantine. The first time I tried to pay the hefty charge, the payment engine failed and I had to start over, which I didn't do until the next day. The next day, scheduling and payment were easy, but the required print job (yes, I had to print paper to take with me to the test) wouldn't display right away. In the end, after an inordinate number of hours, I had everything I need for a Friday test three days before departure.
Yesterday, Air Canada sent me an email warning me to arrive at the airport at least three hours before departure. Out went my plan to take the train to Toronto from Stratford and spend a couple of hours with my brother and sister-in-law, whom I haven't seen for 3-1/2 years. I made another pricey reservation on the Stratford Airporter, cancelled my ViaRail reservation, and am now good to go --- I think.
This has been a moderately frustrating experience. Before the two countries are ready for an easy, routine crossing of the "longest undefended border in the world", rules and procedures need to be clarified,simplified, communicated and put into practice.
