diff --git a/.github/workflows/UnitTesting.yaml b/.github/workflows/UnitTesting.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..7d71c61f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/workflows/UnitTesting.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+name: Unit Testing
+on:
+  push:
+    branches:
+      - master
+  pull_request:
+    branches:
+      - master
+
+jobs:
+  test:
+    # "setup-python" action doesn't provide python 3.4 binaries for ubuntu-latest.
+    # Sticking to Ubuntu 18.04 as recommended here:
+    # https://github.com/actions/setup-python/issues/185#issuecomment-768232756
+    runs-on: ubuntu-18.04
+    env:
+      py27: 2.7
+      py34: 3.4
+      py35: 3.5
+      py36: 3.6
+      py37: 3.7
+      py38: 3.8
+      py39: 3.9
+    strategy:
+      fail-fast: false
+      matrix:
+        python-version: [py27, py34, py35, py36, py37, py38, py39]
+        testenv: [core, ext]
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout repo
+        uses: actions/checkout@v2
+
+      - name: Setup Python
+        uses: actions/setup-python@v2
+        with:
+          python-version: ${{ env[matrix.python-version] }}
+
+      - name: Install tox
+        run: pip install -U tox-factor
+
+      - name: Cache tox environment
+        # Preserves .tox directory between runs for faster installs
+        uses: actions/cache@v2
+        with:
+          path: |
+            .tox
+            ~/.cache/pip
+          key: tox-cache-${{ matrix.python-version }}-${{ matrix.testenv }}-${{ hashFiles('tox.ini') }}
+
+      - name: Run tox
+        run: |
+          tox -f ${{ matrix.python-version }}-${{ matrix.testenv }}
diff --git a/aws_xray_sdk/core/sampling/local/sampler.py b/aws_xray_sdk/core/sampling/local/sampler.py
index 5b2b3a81..ebc09413 100644
--- a/aws_xray_sdk/core/sampling/local/sampler.py
+++ b/aws_xray_sdk/core/sampling/local/sampler.py
@@ -5,7 +5,8 @@
 from .sampling_rule import SamplingRule
 from ...exceptions.exceptions import InvalidSamplingManifestError
 
-local_sampling_rule = json.loads(pkgutil.get_data(__name__, 'sampling_rule.json'))
+# `.decode('utf-8')` needed for Python 3.4, 3.5.
+local_sampling_rule = json.loads(pkgutil.get_data(__name__, 'sampling_rule.json').decode('utf-8'))
 
 SUPPORTED_RULE_VERSION = (1, 2)
 
diff --git a/aws_xray_sdk/ext/boto_utils.py b/aws_xray_sdk/ext/boto_utils.py
index 06532fe7..cb65c854 100644
--- a/aws_xray_sdk/ext/boto_utils.py
+++ b/aws_xray_sdk/ext/boto_utils.py
@@ -11,8 +11,8 @@
 
 from aws_xray_sdk.ext.util import inject_trace_header, to_snake_case
 
-
-whitelist = json.loads(pkgutil.get_data(__name__, 'resources/aws_para_whitelist.json'))
+# `.decode('utf-8')` needed for Python 3.4, 3.5
+whitelist = json.loads(pkgutil.get_data(__name__, 'resources/aws_para_whitelist.json').decode('utf-8'))
 
 
 def inject_header(wrapped, instance, args, kwargs):
diff --git a/tests/ext/aiobotocore/test_aiobotocore.py b/tests/ext/aiobotocore/test_aiobotocore.py
index 4389c8f2..ba43c5d2 100644
--- a/tests/ext/aiobotocore/test_aiobotocore.py
+++ b/tests/ext/aiobotocore/test_aiobotocore.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import pytest
 
-import aiobotocore
+from aiobotocore.session import get_session
 from botocore.stub import Stubber, ANY
 from botocore.exceptions import ClientError
 
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ async def test_describe_table(loop, recorder):
     req_id = '1234'
     response = {'ResponseMetadata': {'RequestId': req_id, 'HTTPStatusCode': 403}}
 
-    session = aiobotocore.get_session()
+    session = get_session()
     async with session.create_client('dynamodb', region_name='eu-west-2') as client:
         with Stubber(client) as stubber:
             stubber.add_response('describe_table', response, {'TableName': 'mytable'})
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ async def test_s3_parameter_capture(loop, recorder):
     version_id = 'myversionid'
     response = {'ResponseMetadata': {'RequestId': '1234', 'HTTPStatusCode': 200}}
 
-    session = aiobotocore.get_session()
+    session = get_session()
     async with session.create_client('s3', region_name='eu-west-2') as client:
         with Stubber(client) as stubber:
             stubber.add_response('get_object', response,
@@ -87,7 +87,7 @@ async def test_list_parameter_counting(loop, recorder):
         }
     }
 
-    session = aiobotocore.get_session()
+    session = get_session()
     async with session.create_client('sqs', region_name='eu-west-2') as client:
         with Stubber(client) as stubber:
             stubber.add_response('list_queues', response, {'QueueNamePrefix': queue_name_prefix})
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ async def test_map_parameter_grouping(loop, recorder):
         }
     }
 
-    session = aiobotocore.get_session()
+    session = get_session()
     async with session.create_client('dynamodb', region_name='eu-west-2') as client:
         with Stubber(client) as stubber:
             stubber.add_response('batch_write_item', response, {'RequestItems': ANY})
@@ -137,7 +137,7 @@ async def test_context_missing_not_swallow_return(loop, recorder):
 
     response = {'ResponseMetadata': {'RequestId': '1234', 'HTTPStatusCode': 403}}
 
-    session = aiobotocore.get_session()
+    session = get_session()
     async with session.create_client('dynamodb', region_name='eu-west-2') as client:
         with Stubber(client) as stubber:
             stubber.add_response('describe_table', response, {'TableName': 'mytable'})
@@ -150,7 +150,7 @@ async def test_context_missing_not_suppress_exception(loop, recorder):
     xray_recorder.configure(service='test', sampling=False,
                             context=AsyncContext(loop=loop), context_missing='LOG_ERROR')
 
-    session = aiobotocore.get_session()
+    session = get_session()
     async with session.create_client('dynamodb', region_name='eu-west-2') as client:
         with Stubber(client) as stubber:
             stubber.add_client_error('describe_table', expected_params={'TableName': ANY})
diff --git a/tests/test_local_sampling_benchmark.py b/tests/test_local_sampling_benchmark.py
index 74e69cb2..c98b89c7 100644
--- a/tests/test_local_sampling_benchmark.py
+++ b/tests/test_local_sampling_benchmark.py
@@ -5,7 +5,8 @@
 # Faster
 def test_pkgutil_static_read(benchmark):
     def get_sampling_rule():
-        return json.loads(pkgutil.get_data(__name__, 'mock_sampling_rule.json'))
+        # `.decode('utf-8')` needed for Python 3.4, 3.5
+        return json.loads(pkgutil.get_data(__name__, 'mock_sampling_rule.json').decode('utf-8'))
     benchmark(get_sampling_rule)
 
 # Slower
diff --git a/tox.ini b/tox.ini
index 8607c4e1..56bdfa9b 100644
--- a/tox.ini
+++ b/tox.ini
@@ -1,122 +1,157 @@
 [tox]
+skip_missing_interpreters = True
 envlist =
-    py{27,34,35,36,37,38,39}-default
-    py{35,36,37,38,39}-aiohttp2
-    py{35,36,37,38,39}-django22
-    py{36,37,38,39}-django30
-    py{36,37,38,39}-django31
-    py{36,37,38,39}-django32
-    py{27,36,37,38,39}-sqlalchemy
-    py{34,35}-sqlalchemy
-    coverage-report
+    py{27,34,35,36,37,38,39}-core
 
-skip_missing_interpreters = True
+    ; Unavailable for python 2.7 & 3.4
+    py{35,36,37,38,39}-ext-aiobotocore
+
+    ; Unavailable for python 2.7 & 3.4
+    py{35,36,37,38,39}-ext-aiohttp
+
+    py{27,34,35,36,37,38,39}-ext-botocore
+
+    py{27,34,35,36,37,38,39}-ext-bottle
+
+    ; Django2 (2.2+) is only for python 3.5 +
+    py{35,36,37,38,39}-ext-django-2
+
+    ; Django3 is only for python 3.6+
+    py{36,37,38,39}-ext-django-3
+
+    py{27,34,35,36,37,38,39}-ext-flask
+
+    py{27,34,35,36,37,38,39}-ext-flask_sqlalchemy
+
+    py{27,34,35,36,37,38,39}-ext-httplib
+
+    py{27,34,35,36,37,38,39}-ext-pg8000
+
+    py{27,34,35,36,37,38,39}-ext-psycopg2
+
+    py{27,34,35,36,37,38,39}-ext-pymysql
+
+    py{27,34,35,36,37,38,39}-ext-pynamodb
+
+    py{27,34,35,36,37,38,39}-ext-requests
+
+    py{27,34,35,36,37,38,39}-ext-sqlalchemy
+
+    py{27,34,35,36,37,38,39}-ext-sqlalchemy_core
+
+    py{27,34,35,36,37,38,39}-ext-sqlite3
 
 [testenv]
-passenv = TOXENV CI TRAVIS TRAVIS_* CODECOV_*
+passenv = TOXENV CI CODECOV_*
+
 deps =
+    ; Testing packages
     pytest > 3.0.0
     pytest-benchmark
-    coverage==4.5.4
+    coverage == 4.5.4
     codecov
-    requests
-    bottle >= 0.10
-    flask >= 0.10
-    sqlalchemy
-    Flask-SQLAlchemy
+
+    ; Packages common to all test environments
     future
-    django22: Django==2.2.*
-    django30: Django==3.0.*
-    django31: Django==3.1.*
-    django32: Django==3.2.*
-    django{22,30,31,32}: django-fake-model
-    pynamodb >= 3.3.1
-    psycopg2
-    pg8000
-    testing.postgresql
-    testing.mysqld
-    webtest
-    # Python2 only deps
-    py{27}: enum34 mock
-
-    # pymysql deps
-    py{27,34,35}: pymysql < 1.0.0
-    py{36,37,38,39}: pymysql >= 1.0.0
-
-    # Python3.4 only deps
+    wrapt
+
+    ; Python 2.7 only deps
+    py{27}: enum34
+    py{27}: mock
+
+    ; Python 3.4 only deps
     py34: typing >= 3.7.4.3
 
-    # Python3.5+ only deps
-    py{35,36,37,38,39}: aiohttp >= 3.0.0
+    ; Python 3.5+ only deps
+    ; for some reason pytest-aiohttp is required for "core" tests
+    ; TODO: find and replace by more direct dependency
     py{35,36,37,38,39}: pytest-aiohttp
-    py{35,36,37,38,39}: aiobotocore >= 0.10.0
 
-commands =
-    coverage erase
-    py{27,34}-default: coverage run --append --source aws_xray_sdk -m py.test tests --ignore tests/ext/aiohttp --ignore tests/ext/aiobotocore --ignore tests/ext/django --ignore tests/test_async_local_storage.py --ignore tests/test_async_recorder.py --ignore tests/ext/sqlalchemy_core
-    py{35,36,37,38,39}-default: coverage run --append --source aws_xray_sdk -m py.test tests --ignore tests/ext/django --ignore tests/ext/sqlalchemy_core
-    py{27,36,37,38,39}-default: coverage run --append --source aws_xray_sdk -m py.test tests/ext/sqlalchemy_core
-    py{34,35}-default: coverage run --append --source aws_xray_sdk -m py.test tests/ext/sqlalchemy_core/ --ignore tests/ext/sqlalchemy_core/test_sqlalchemy_core_2.py
-    django{22,30,31,32}: coverage run --append --source aws_xray_sdk -m py.test tests/ext/django
-    codecov
+    ext-aiobotocore: aiobotocore >= 0.10.0
+    ext-aiobotocore: pytest-aiohttp
+
+    ext-aiohttp: aiohttp >= 3.0.0
+    ; Breaking change where the `test_client` fixture was renamed.
+    ; Also, the stable version is only supported for Python 3.7+
+    ext-aiohttp: pytest-aiohttp < 1.0.0
+
+    ext-requests: requests
+
+    ext-bottle: bottle >= 0.10
+    ext-bottle: webtest
+
+    ext-flask: flask >= 0.10
+
+    ext-flask_sqlalchemy: flask >= 0.10
+    ext-flask_sqlalchemy: Flask-SQLAlchemy
+
+    ext-sqlalchemy: sqlalchemy
+
+    ext-sqlalchemy_core: sqlalchemy
+    ext-sqlalchemy_core: testing.postgresql
+    ext-sqlalchemy_core: psycopg2
+
+    ext-django-2: Django >=2.0,<3.0
+    ext-django-3: Django >=3.0,<4.0
+    ext-django: django-fake-model
+
+    ext-pynamodb: pynamodb >= 3.3.1
+
+    ext-psycopg2: psycopg2
+    ext-psycopg2: testing.postgresql
+
+    ext-pg8000: pg8000 <= 1.20.0
+    ext-pg8000: testing.postgresql
+
+    ext-pymysql: testing.mysqld
+    py{27,34,35}-ext-pymysql: pymysql < 1.0.0
+    py{36,37,38,39}-ext-pymysql: pymysql >= 1.0.0
 
 setenv =
     DJANGO_SETTINGS_MODULE = tests.ext.django.app.settings
     AWS_SECRET_ACCESS_KEY = fake_key
     AWS_ACCESS_KEY_ID=fake_id
 
-[testenv:py35-aiohttp2]
-deps =
-    pytest > 3.0.0
-    aiohttp >= 2.3.0,<3.0.0
-    pytest-aiohttp
-    botocore
-    coverage==4.5.4
-
 commands =
-    py{35}: coverage run --source aws_xray_sdk -m py.test tests/ext/aiohttp --ignore tests/ext/aiohttp/test_client.py
+    coverage erase
 
-[testenv:py36-aiohttp2]
-deps =
-    pytest > 3.0.0
-    aiohttp >= 2.3.0,<3.0.0
-    pytest-aiohttp
-    botocore
-    coverage==4.5.4
+    ; Async methods are only available for python 3.5+
+    py{27,34}-core: coverage run --append --source aws_xray_sdk -m pytest --ignore tests/ext --ignore tests/test_async_local_storage.py --ignore tests/test_async_recorder.py
+    py{35,36,37,38,39}-core: coverage run --append --source aws_xray_sdk -m pytest --ignore tests/ext
 
-commands =
-    py{36}: coverage run --source aws_xray_sdk -m py.test tests/ext/aiohttp --ignore tests/ext/aiohttp/test_client.py
+    ext-aiobotocore: coverage run --append --source aws_xray_sdk -m pytest tests/ext/aiobotocore
 
-[testenv:py37-aiohttp2]
-deps =
-    pytest > 3.0.0
-    aiohttp >= 2.3.0,<3.0.0
-    pytest-aiohttp
-    botocore
-    coverage==4.5.4
+    ext-aiohttp: coverage run --append --source aws_xray_sdk -m pytest tests/ext/aiohttp
 
-commands =
-    py{37}: coverage run --source aws_xray_sdk -m py.test tests/ext/aiohttp --ignore tests/ext/aiohttp/test_client.py
+    ext-botocore: coverage run --append --source aws_xray_sdk -m pytest tests/ext/botocore
 
-[testenv:py38-aiohttp2]
-deps =
-    pytest > 5.2.0
-    aiohttp >= 3.6
-    pytest-aiohttp
-    botocore
-    coverage==4.5.4
+    ext-bottle: coverage run --append --source aws_xray_sdk -m pytest tests/ext/bottle
 
-commands =
-    py{38}: coverage run --source aws_xray_sdk -m py.test tests/ext/aiohttp --ignore tests/ext/aiohttp/test_client.py
+    ext-django: coverage run --append --source aws_xray_sdk -m pytest tests/ext/django
 
-[testenv:coverage-report]
-deps = coverage
-skip_install = true
-commands =
-    # might need to add coverage combine at some point
-    py{38}: coverage report
-    py{38}: coverage html
+    ext-flask: coverage run --append --source aws_xray_sdk -m pytest tests/ext/flask
+
+    ext-flask_sqlalchemy: coverage run --append --source aws_xray_sdk -m pytest tests/ext/flask_sqlalchemy
+
+    ext-httplib: coverage run --append --source aws_xray_sdk -m pytest tests/ext/httplib
+
+    ext-pg8000: coverage run --append --source aws_xray_sdk -m pytest tests/ext/pg8000
+
+    ext-psycopg2: coverage run --append --source aws_xray_sdk -m pytest tests/ext/psycopg2
+
+    ext-pymysql: coverage run --append --source aws_xray_sdk -m pytest tests/ext/pymysql
+
+    ext-pynamodb: coverage run --append --source aws_xray_sdk -m pytest tests/ext/pynamodb
+
+    ext-requests: coverage run --append --source aws_xray_sdk -m pytest tests/ext/requests
+
+    ext-sqlalchemy: coverage run --append --source aws_xray_sdk -m pytest tests/ext/sqlalchemy
+
+    ; sqlalchemy_core - 2.0 style execution is not supported for python 3.4 & 3.5
+    py{27,36,37,38,39}-ext-sqlalchemy_core: coverage run --append --source aws_xray_sdk -m pytest tests/ext/sqlalchemy_core
+    py{34,35}-ext-sqlalchemy_core: coverage run --append --source aws_xray_sdk -m pytest tests/ext/sqlalchemy_core --ignore tests/ext/sqlalchemy_core/test_sqlalchemy_core_2.py
+
+    ext-sqlite3: coverage run --append --source aws_xray_sdk -m pytest tests/ext/sqlite3
 
-[flake8]
-max-line-length=120
-exclude=tests
+    ; TODO: add additional logic to combine coverage from "core" and "ext" test runs
+    ; codecov