CANMORE, ALTA. —
Several fully vaccinated Canadians have been forced to quarantine for two weeks after returning from day trips to the U.S. and failing to pre-register on the ArriveCAN app, a requirement for re-entry.
Last month, the federal government adjusted pandemic-era travel rules to allow fully vaccinated Canadians to re-enter the country within 72 hours without providing a negative PCR test, a decision widely celebrated by those who live near the U.S. border.
However, travellers are still required to submit mandatory information, including proof of vaccination, date of travel, and quarantine plan in the ArriveCAN app before returning to the Canadian border – leading to confusion for many returning from day trips.
“It feels like I’m being punished for not being able to navigate the ArriveCAN app,” Surrey, B.C. resident Martin Turo told CTV Vancouver Friday.
On Thursday, Turo crossed the border to pick up a package in Blaine, Wash. Although he registered his trip on the ArriveCAN app, the 70-year-old, who admits he is not tech-savvy, could not figure out how to upload his vaccine details.
“I brought that vaccine passport with me and (the border guard) didn’t even want to look at it,” said Turo.
Turo is now under a 14-day quarantine order, despite having two COVID-19 vaccinations plus a booster shot, and only spending 30 minutes south of the border.
Similarly, Rick Minchin and his wife spent four hours in Blaine on Tuesday, before heading back to New Westminster, B.C., through the Pacific Highway border crossing. Unaware of the ArriveCAN app requirements, the couple were mandated to quarantine by the border official they spoke with.
“We tried to discuss with him: ‘Can we turn around? Is there anything else we can do?’ He basically said ‘no,’” explained Minchin.
Toronto-area woman Laurie Fonseca was also slapped with a quarantine order after spending just seven hours shopping across the border in Buffalo, N.Y.
“It was like being kicked in the gut,” Fonseca told CTV News Toronto on Thursday. “I’m basically bound in my house for 14 days and I’m a Canadian citizen, fully vaccinated — this makes absolutely no sense to me.”
Fonseca says she asked the CBSA officer whether she could park her car and fill out the registration then but was denied.
According to the Canada Border Services Agency, many Canadians have failed to register their trips on the app since the new rules came into effect on Nov. 30. Yet, while some travellers CTV News spoke to have been permitted to turn around, download the app and return to the border, not everyone has been given that opportunity.
“Subjectivity is the hallmark of arriving at the Canadian border,” Ryan Neely, a Vancouver-based immigration lawyer, told CTV Vancouver. “It’s more an officer’s decision if they want to send you away and give you time to fill out that app.”
Use of the app has drawn criticism from those who worry seniors and Canadians with disabilities may not be able to navigate the app.
The federal government notes that if you have accessibility needs or a compatible smartphone, you can submit your information through the browser version of ArriveCAN on any computer.
According to the ArriveCAN website, the government is working to make the mobile app accessible, adding, “if you aren’t able to use ArriveCAN due to accessibility needs, you won’t be denied boarding or entry into Canada.”
However, the website also notes that travellers who do not check in using the ArriveCAN feature may face delays due to additional questioning and potentially “be subject to enforcement action.”
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE YOU TRAVEL
The ArriveCAN app is available on the Apple App Store and the Google Play Store. The ArriveCAN iPhone app is compatible with any iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad running iOS 12.0 or later. On Android, the app requires Android version 6.0 or newer.
Once you’ve logged in, you’ll be asked to submit mandatory information including proof of vaccination, date of travel, and quarantine plan. This must be done before you arrive at the border to re-enter Canada.
Upon arrival, a Canadian Border Services officer will ask to see your ArriveCAN receipt. If you’re not carrying a smartphone or other device, be sure to have a printout of your ArriveCAN receipt ready.
VANCOUVER – Contract negotiations resume today in Vancouver in a labour dispute that has paralyzed container cargo shipping at British Columbia’s ports since Monday.
The BC Maritime Employers Association and International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 514 are scheduled to meet for the next three days in mediated talks to try to break a deadlock in negotiations.
The union, which represents more than 700 longshore supervisors at ports, including Vancouver, Prince Rupert and Nanaimo, has been without a contract since March last year.
The latest talks come after employers locked out workers in response to what it said was “strike activity” by union members.
The start of the lockout was then followed by several days of no engagement between the two parties, prompting federal Labour Minister Steven MacKinnon to speak with leaders on both sides, asking them to restart talks.
MacKinnon had said that the talks were “progressing at an insufficient pace, indicating a concerning absence of urgency from the parties involved” — a sentiment echoed by several business groups across Canada.
In a joint letter, more than 100 organizations, including the Canadian Chamber of Commerce, Business Council of Canada and associations representing industries from automotive and fertilizer to retail and mining, urged the government to do whatever it takes to end the work stoppage.
“While we acknowledge efforts to continue with mediation, parties have not been able to come to a negotiated agreement,” the letter says. “So, the federal government must take decisive action, using every tool at its disposal to resolve this dispute and limit the damage caused by this disruption.
“We simply cannot afford to once again put Canadian businesses at risk, which in turn puts Canadian livelihoods at risk.”
In the meantime, the union says it has filed a complaint to the Canada Industrial Relations Board against the employers, alleging the association threatened to pull existing conditions out of the last contract in direct contact with its members.
“The BCMEA is trying to undermine the union by attempting to turn members against its democratically elected leadership and bargaining committee — despite the fact that the BCMEA knows full well we received a 96 per cent mandate to take job action if needed,” union president Frank Morena said in a statement.
The employers have responded by calling the complaint “another meritless claim,” adding the final offer to the union that includes a 19.2 per cent wage increase over a four-year term remains on the table.
“The final offer has been on the table for over a week and represents a fair and balanced proposal for employees, and if accepted would end this dispute,” the employers’ statement says. “The offer does not require any concessions from the union.”
The union says the offer does not address the key issue of staffing requirement at the terminals as the port introduces more automation to cargo loading and unloading, which could potentially require fewer workers to operate than older systems.
The Port of Vancouver is the largest in Canada and has seen a number of labour disruptions, including two instances involving the rail and grain storage sectors earlier this year.
A 13-day strike by another group of workers at the port last year resulted in the disruption of a significant amount of shipping and trade.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
The Royal Canadian Legion says a new partnership with e-commerce giant Amazon is helping boost its veterans’ fund, and will hopefully expand its donor base in the digital world.
Since the Oct. 25 launch of its Amazon.ca storefront, the legion says it has received nearly 10,000 orders for poppies.
Online shoppers can order lapel poppies on Amazon in exchange for donations or buy items such as “We Remember” lawn signs, Remembrance Day pins and other accessories, with all proceeds going to the legion’s Poppy Trust Fund for Canadian veterans and their families.
Nujma Bond, the legion’s national spokesperson, said the organization sees this move as keeping up with modern purchasing habits.
“As the world around us evolves we have been looking at different ways to distribute poppies and to make it easier for people to access them,” she said in an interview.
“This is definitely a way to reach a wider number of Canadians of all ages. And certainly younger Canadians are much more active on the web, on social media in general, so we’re also engaging in that way.”
Al Plume, a member of a legion branch in Trenton, Ont., said the online store can also help with outreach to veterans who are far from home.
“For veterans that are overseas and are away, (or) can’t get to a store they can order them online, it’s Amazon.” Plume said.
Plume spent 35 years in the military with the Royal Engineers, and retired eight years ago. He said making sure veterans are looked after is his passion.
“I’ve seen the struggles that our veterans have had with Veterans Affairs … and that’s why I got involved, with making sure that the people get to them and help the veterans with their paperwork.”
But the message about the Amazon storefront didn’t appear to reach all of the legion’s locations, with volunteers at Branch 179 on Vancouver’s Commercial Drive saying they hadn’t heard about the online push.
Holly Paddon, the branch’s poppy campaign co-ordinator and bartender, said the Amazon partnership never came up in meetings with other legion volunteers and officials.
“I work at the legion, I work with the Vancouver poppy office and I go to the meetings for the Vancouver poppy campaign — which includes all the legions in Vancouver — and not once has this been mentioned,” she said.
Paddon said the initiative is a great idea, but she would like to have known more about it.
The legion also sells a larger collection of items at poppystore.ca.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 9, 2024.
