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Flying and driving to Canada checklists

Supporting traveller compliance during the COVID-19 pandemic

Interdepartmental Travel team

April 2021

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As requirements increased, compliance decreased

Collaborative travel team had already launched wizard to help travellers through the entry restrictions

In January, Canada announced new testing and hotel stopover policies:

Early emphasis had been on flying, but many travellers posted feedback asking:

“What about driving? What are the rules for me?”

Checklists help people do every step

Research shows people can complete a sequence correctly when it’s laid out as checklist

Canada.ca designed interactive checkboxes with CRA in 2018 - pattern is in the design system

Within 2 weeks

Designed a prototype, workshopped, approved and launched Feb 15th

Minimum viable product approach

Helping travellers quickly

Checklists now de-facto navigation pages for flying or driving - can quickly reflect policy changes

Continuous improvement - weekly

More than half of visitors are on mobile phones so GAC team replaced icons with interactive checkboxes as originally designed
When new pages go live the team adds links, and tracks analytics and behaviours

Interactive: People really are checking the boxes

Analysis: Matthieu Bonenfant, Global Affairs Canada, March 23-29

Checkboxes used less the further down the list they are
Before you travel section averages the most checks and the most link clicks of all sections
Arriving in Canada - first checkbox is 2nd most checked of all
Take a test on arrival - least used in section
Who has to do hotel stopover - most link clicks

Turning numbers into insights

As people move through the process they come back less to check off what they’ve done.

Checklists support planning - people are checking the boxes before they travel, creating accounts, booking hotels, etc.
Used less later in the process when people are already in transit
Used more for complicated steps
For doing tasks while travelling, people just do it, don’t need to check the box
Top tasks are reflected in heavy traffic to a particular link

Before you travel - lots of checks

Use interaction for #AnswersNotInformation

Help people comply - if there are steps to do in order, provide an interactive checklist

Help people prepare before calling or applying

Help people find out if they are eligible - build in logic to provide next step

#AnswersNotInformation