OTTAWA —
The number of international travellers arriving by air has surged to the highest levels since mid-March, according to the newest numbers out of the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA).
Between August 3 and 9, 56,122 air travellers entered into Canada with 14,809 coming from the U.S. and 41,313 arriving on other international flights. It’s the highest count since between March 23 and 29 when 129,195 travellers arrived into the country, yet still down 94 per cent since 2019 levels.
The CBSA started collecting air and land travel statistics when the government announced enhanced COVID-19 travel restrictions requiring that all Canadians avoid non-essential travel outside of the country; that they return to Canada as soon as possible; and that they be required to self-isolate for 14 days upon entry.
Soon after, on March 21, the Canada-U.S. border shut down to non-essential travel – a measure that’s been renewed each month since. While Canadian borders are currently closed to all discretionary travel – such as for tourism, recreation or entertainment purposes – a short-list of exemptions exists.
April numbers hovered between 14,000 air travellers and 22,000, with the steepest decline between April 27 and May 3. Air travel had dropped 98 per cent compared to the same time period last year. Statistics show a slow climb since late May, reaching the 40,000 mark between June 29 and July 5.
Airline analyst Karl Moore says the moderate increase shows Canadians are slowly lowering their guard and becoming more at ease with the new realities of the pandemic, especially when it comes to travel.
“Canadians want to travel, they’re eager to get away, but it’s kind of tough to do,” he said in an interview with CTVNews.ca. “Part of it is business travel is up a bit, people are travelling to see family.”
But he cautioned that numbers won’t return to pre-COVID-19 levels for many years and pointed to a new report by the International Air Transport Association, which says the airline sector won’t see a full rebound until 2024. They list three main factors for this: “Slow virus containment in the U.S. and developing economies, reduced corporate travel, and weak consumer confidence.”
Moore said because workforces have quickly transitioned to a more remote-focused system, with communication tools like Skype and Zoom replacing in-person gatherings, employees will no longer need to hop on a plane to catch a meeting in a different city.
“Business travel will return, but not as much, partly because we’re in the biggest recession we’ve seen in our lifetime and one of the things you can cut is your business travel.”
He added that numbers would be much higher if the government hadn’t enforced a two-week mandatory quarantine period upon return and if air travel itself was more enticing taking into consideration the new COVID-19 guidelines like wearing a mask at all times.
“I have a personal example – I’m not flying to Iceland [for work] because of the 14-day rule when I come back to Canada. Iceland is losing the hotel, the car rental money because of Canadian regulations,” he said.
“So it’s not just that Canadians want to fly, but where can they fly to, who’s going to fly them, and what do they have to do when they come back?”
Air Canada’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Jim Chung wrote a letter to Transport Minister Marc Garneau and Health Minister Patty Hajdu in mid-July calling for “a science-based approach” to easing the quarantine rules, at the very least to countries with low COVID-19 counts.
“Canada has made virtually no change to its quarantine restrictions since mid-March, despite continuing improvements containing the spread of the virus both in our country and in many others. This is severely impacting Air Canada, our customers and employees, as well as an overall recovery,” he wrote.
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.
