ArriveCAN Reviews

ArriveCAN is supposed to make travel to Canada easier it is a fairly laborious process to fill it out and it doesn’t link well with the border agents.

What would make ArriveCAN better, especially for repeat travelers back to Canada, is to remember some of the basic information about the traveler. ArriveCAN forces you to manually input information about your identity, vaccination status, and testing every time you return. Although some of these things of course will change over time some of the basic information stays static to the profile of the traveler. My advice is to take the time ahead of your travel to ensure that you have ArriveCAN precisely completed.

The second major issue with ArriveCAN is the connection with the border agent. We are repeat travelers back to Canada and at the border each time the border agent has given us the permission not to quarantine - double vaccinated and had negative tests. This however was not reflected in ArriveCAN nor our communications back to the government of Canada. Daily we would receive notifications from ArriveCAN about needing to quarantine in place even though we were permitted to travel per the discussion with the border agent. This caused us quite a high degree of anxiety not knowing which was right. Again, my advice to all those who are using ArriveCAN is to ensure that you have clear guidance from your border agent so that you do not have to worry about what ArriveCAN says.

First and foremost I’d like to say we all waited for 2 years for the border to open up. But how can you cross now? I have your answer. A complicated app that requires to capture your passport, drivers license and COVID results but in reality you don’t 🤣
*BOTH American and Canadian border websites must act updated 24/7 on how you need requirements to cross the border. My boyfriend and I ALWAYS check both websites and we’ve never seen anybody update it until “August 21” the big opening to cross. Little did I know, I had all my information by hand and I was immediately refused by Canadian officers because I did not have proof that I needed a NEGATIVE PCR test. This was the day after they had opened the border.
Everything had to be electronically documented on the Arrive Canada App and again I didn’t know since their website was not updated. I was frustrated waiting to be sent back to America along with other people waiting in their cars.
Also, I had a bad experience with officers from BOTH sides. That was not my day…

I tried all possible border crossing names but none was accepted. There is no list to chose from. If you want to use ArriveCAN AFTER arrival, you are out of luck, as it only recognizes dates in the future, not in the past. For me, ArriveCAN was a complete non-starter.
But it gets worse: at my second attempt BEFORE arrival, using the “forget password” option produces a popup that blocks the text field, so you are stuck. Sorry, not working. For an “essential” app to cross the border it’s a major nightmare.
PS: Getting far worse: after choosing a strong automatic password on my iPhone, the automatic fill in first replaces my email address with the confirmation number and then doesn’t find my password because it looks for some Canadian website. The last problem may be an iOS problem but I am sure ArriveCAN developers could have avoided that - like all the other app developers who managed to do so. Sorry guys: one of the worst apps I used in along time.

Really appreciate the user experience flow and design of ArriveCAN. Works smoothly with features for saving your process as you go and for multiple reviews of your info before submit. Attractive interface.

I recommend a little more instruction around the “Add traveler” feature, as it was a bit confusing for two adults traveling together—should we both add each other? Should we have the information only on one device with the second person as an additional traveler? We ended up calling the border crossing (a challenge in itself!) before arrival for advice.

Far too difficult for a 71 year old to first understand the 72 hour time limit when we have to be at the airport 3 hours ahead and we board the plane at least 20-30 minutes ahead. So when it says 72 hours ahead of boarding plane or scheduled departure time you are really not saying 72 hours ahead. I had to go in over and over again to be able to register.

Very frustrating and no I will not be coming to Canada again.

Trying to register on an iPhone is difficult but had to use it so we could download app.
Some of the areas during registration were hard to get to because they would be covered up by some “message”.

And I wasn't sure what you were asking.
Ex: near the end it mentioned having to do something in Canada in one area but wanted me to fill in the United States of America as my place of originating or citizenship although I did not understand what your application wanted. I tried 3 or 4 times until I understood that.
This was a very frustrating process.
Also you wanted covid tests to be within 72 hours which puts it very close to departure time and date. Especially since you wanted the results before boarding time.
Did I mention I have been frustrated for 3 days trying to “jump through hoops?”
I pray Canada will not disappoint on our first vacation out of the country in several years and first land tour in Canada.

ArriveCAN must’ve been put together quickly and without much thought. ArriveCAN does NOT save your information as you progress through it not does it work well on an Apple 8plus phone. Trying to call Technical Support for assistance was a 2 hour deal with surprise from who picked up on the other end worrying more about HOW I got the number! I submitted everything requested and got to the last step to submit and was sent a message saying I had to connect to the Internet (which I already was per going through ArriveCAN steps) and couldn’t finish the whole process. This Application and the programmers are severely lacking and quality control needs to happen. This is a terrible App to try and use. Apparently, it’s needed to be used on a newer device (ergo why I got it done on my BF’s new phone). And seriously, if you believe in a fully vaccinated Canadian trying to get to Canada - WHY require such strict rules for crossing? ArriveCAN is out of whack.

This is a very good app, but most people are going to be getting only part way through before they are ready for the receipt.
It would be improved if people were asked for their quarantine plan first, before being asked for their negative test result. Instead, you have to wait to get your negative test result for your entire party before handling the quarantine plan.
Also, when you Save&Close, the checkpoint created backs you up to much. The next time you start ArriveCAN you will have to back up and re-answer the same questions.
ArriveCAN could also be improved if - like uploading the vaccination images - you could also upload the negative COVID test results, either as a pdf or an image.

I find it’s ArriveCAN not to userIssue friendly. From a Government user point of view, it makes sense. From a user point of view, it doesn’t 🤨. There are so many entry points into Canada 🚗🛻🚌🇨🇦. The problem is that the entry points are listed in Canadian Cities. I am crossing from the USA 🇺🇸. Shouldn’t it post; Surrey/ Blaine. PAC HWY has 2 entry points in the same town. Upon trying to find my entry point, I need to find the name of the Canadian side city in order to fill out the Canadian entry form📑. It takes a lot of time & research. 😠 Why do you need to manually enter the date of your COVD Immunizations & photograph your card too. It’s on the COVD Immunization card. ArriveCAN is only set for an extended stay. 1 day visits are not an option. ArriveCAN only excepts a designated place to stay if I get exposed to COVD. My advice is too re develop ArriveCAN . 🤔

I arrived at the Canadian border in Vermont today with all required paperwork. I had filled out ArriveCAN and submitted it. I was unaware that it did not go through completely and as a result did not have an activation number. Because of no Wi-Fi at border (which makes no sense to me), I had to return to the US, find a place with WI-Fi, hit the submit button again which took all of two seconds, return through Customs again with my activation number. Very frustrating and upsetting. If it had been made clear to me when I submitted ArriveCAN that I should make sure I had a confirmation number, I would have known I wasn’t done and it would have saved a lot of time today. I am in Canada for my Mom’s funeral and was anxious to get to my destination.

ArriveCAN is aesthetically pleasing, and I appreciate the government’s attempt to quickly roll out ArriveCAN (I suppose part of the reason was to minimize people looking for paper forms and lining up to fill them?). The development team does a very good job of responding to questions and updating ArriveCAN as necessary. ArriveCAN has certainly come a long way since its launch.

I do have one suggestion. It could help grouping land border crossings per province (or include their province for the search feature) as not all the border crossing names are known by the nonlocals. This can save a visit to Google Maps!

My eleven year old is fully vaccinated, but ArriveCAN will not give me an option to upload the document or even ask me about it. It just assumes “no”. When I called the “help” number they told me to create an entirely new account with a different email or try to do it on my desk top. So create an account for a minor with an extra email I don’t have? Also, doing it on the desktop, did not work. When I asked if I can just show the border officer the documents and still get into Canada, the response was….”it depends on the border officer!” I can’t tell you how frustrating this is! I am happy to follow all rules and get all documents together, but we his process has many flaws! I’m going to drive 7 hours to drive the border and I may or may not be granted entry. I’m Canadian with my American children.

Unfortunately ArriveCAN does not accommodate the most recent requirements for vaccinated US citizens to enter Canada. As requirements updated this week, vaccination documents must be entered 2 weeks prior to arrival at the border. ArriveCAN version only allows info entry 3 days prior to entry into Canada. Look forward to getting back to our cabin and hope this roadblock will be cleared soon.

UPDATE: I appreciate the quick developer response. My error was in understanding data submission deadlines. Thats what I get for getting info from the media and not official sources. Will update my review again when I finally get to use Arrive CAN, 72 hours prior to the border arrival.

I don’t know what “this app” app the government has, but they continually ask me to go on ArriveCAN and report if I have symptoms. There’s no where on ArriveCAN to do that… ??? … it only allows you to pick an arrival date and that’s it. No daily reporting or anything of the sort. This is extremely confusing…

UPDATE: developers are good at feedback I’m impressed. However, it was stated that ArriveCAN sends you a notification every day at 10am. I’ve quarantined 4 times due to work travel, and not once have I received a notification to report symptoms. Note that I *DO* have notifications completely on (banners, Home Screen, persistent, etc) and do not get these notifications. Would be glad to work with developers to sort it out because I’m sure I’m not the only one.

I have to give a good review for this particular app for people who is going to enter Canada as a transportation driver. It’s very user friendly and easy as long as you established a profile. Thank you. It makes my job much easier. But one thing is not clear to me is; If I have to drive my own transportation (car) to enter Canada for company’s business . Do I still have to go through all the regular procedures? Do I have go get another testing within 82 hours? Even though I across the board every other day by driving company’s truck.

1.) The prompts are very confusing. 2.) The “Save and Close” feature takes you completely out of the program, which means you have no way to verify anything is being saved until you reach the final screen. 3.) The wording of many questions is awkward and ambiguous. You are expected to be completely transparent (good thing). But the wording of many questions causes you to struggle with your answer. 4.) The disclosure appears to provide the Canadian government virtually unlimited access to do what it wants with my phone. I thought the sole purpose was quarantine compliance in Canada. 5.) I filled out the this app registration 4 days before I am scheduled to cross the border. Am I being tracked right now by Canadian authorities even though I am still in the US? That should not be the case, but how do you know?

Hopefully the arrive Canada app Will lessen all of the harassment that people have to go through to enter Canada,Including Canadian citizens. There is a limit to what people should have to go through because of COVID-19. For example, you don’t kill a mosquito with a sledgehammer. Three years of Covid and I have never been to a Covid funeral, nor do I know anyone else that has gone to a Covid funeral. Something is big-time wrong with the COVID-19 information we receive daily. It is extremely questionable, in the highest degree of the word.

Hello,

I was able to use my app to cross the border as the border guard said my information indicated that I filled out ArriveCAN . Unfortunately, reporting my daily symptoms seems to be a day late. I received a call from health Canada which notes my arrival date and my quarantine aligning with that, but when I fill out my daily symptoms on ArriveCAN , it seems to be reporting one day behind. I am concerned as to which to follow. I also completed all necessary updates and it is still one day behind..

Suggestions? It says I should not delete while quarantining so I am apprehensive to do anything..

So when picking from pull down menus after you’ve indicated that you’re driving into Canada, at the Peace Bridge, why on earth wouldn’t an app designer populate all lists with United States as first choice instead of forcing the user to type in the entire word United and the letter S? I’d assume that United States would be the most likely response under such circumstances? Much less likely that someone is from the United Arab Emirates or the United Kingdom. United States Minor Islands before United States? Really? May want to reconsider. Otherwise it’s a really easy app to use. Nicely done.

ArriveCAN is easy to use except for one screen when the ask if you have traveled to any other countries besides the United States. The buttons No and Yes are below the save button. I tried to slide it up and quickly hit no. It took me a super long time and a quick finger to hit that button. I have tried to uninstall and reinstall, turn it horizontally and a bunch of other “tricks” nothing works! If you could please fix that it would be great! The same issue is with a few more people we know so I know it’s not just my phone.

I really appreciated the way that this was designed - to not have to know everything that needs to be submitted at once - because you don’t know all of the info needed until you go through ArriveCAN . It was very kind, that way. I needed to go out and then return into ArriveCAN a few times (e.g., ran out of time) and it allowed for that. It also allowed for changes to your response in case you’d misread the question after you’d passed that page.

Thank you very much.

We returned to Canada on May 2. We filled out our info on ArriveCAN and went to the border crossing at 1,000 islands. Did not see any code displayed to enter into ArriveCAN . Asked the guard about it and he had never heard of ArriveCAN and knew nothing about the code. He asked us all the same questions we had answered in ArriveCAN . He was pleasant enough and the crossing was easy. It seems the rollout of ArriveCAN has not been done to all crossings. Seems like a good idea, just need to implement it everywhere.