Canadians who love to spend part of the winter in Hawaii should be singing a happy tune today.

The state of Hawaii on Thursday announced that Canadians who take approved COVID-19 tests will be able to bypass mandatory, 14-day quarantines.

"Many Canadians love to visit Hawaii during the winter months to escape the cold weather, so the timing for this works well," said Hawaii Governor David Ige. "Canada is the second largest international market to Hawaii, so their commitment to provide safe travel to our islands is an important next step."

Ige said Hawaii has "the most rigorous pre-travel testing program in the United States."

Hawaii says it will recognize certified tests from labs affiliated with WestJet and Air Canada, and that travellers must have negative tests uploaded to a special website with 72 hours of their flight to the islands.

As of today, Canadians who wish to fly to Hawaii have to stop in a U.S. city and arrange tests there, as no Canadian labs have been approved until now.

WestJet issued a press released on Thursday saying it will begin testing in partnership with DynaLife in Alberta "for guests holding a WestJet-ticketed itinerary to Hawaii within 72-hours. Details can be found here: westjet.com/covidtesting."

"While the testing, which costs $150 CAD per person and is payable by the guest, is currently only available in Alberta, the testing is open to all Canadian residents. Guests travelling to Hawaii are responsible for ensuring they receive a test within 72-hours of their flight departing to Hawaii in order to avoid quarantine and will be required to display their negative test result prior to boarding."

"If test results are not available before boarding the final leg of the trip, the traveller must quarantine for 14 days or the length of the stay, whichever is shorter," WestJet officials said.

WestJet flights to Hawaii are slated to begin Dec. 18. WestJet says it will be flying to both Honolulu on Oahu and to the island of Maui from Vancouver and Calgary.

A Canadian spokesperson for the Hawaii Tourism Authority said she understands Air Canada passengers will be able to find tests in a number of cities across the country.

Details on costs weren't available, but Air Canada said it will have more news on its website in the coming days.

"We applaud Governor Ige's announcement that Hawaii's science-based, pre-travel testing initiative is now available for Canadians to be exempt from mandatory quarantine requirements on arrival in Hawaii, and we are very pleased Air Canada is a preferred airline in Hawaii's Safe Travels Program. We have long advocated for safe and science-based strategies over blanket quarantines to enable a safe and secure resumption of air travel," said Timothy Liu, Managing Director, Sales Planning at Air Canada.

"Air Canada looks forward to bringing Candians back to the beautiful state of Hawaii," he said.

It's good news that Canadians will be able to skip required 14-day quarantines upon arrival in the islands, but Canadian law still requires returning residents to quarantine at home for two weeks.