As concerns about internationally imported COVID-19 variants hit closer to home, public health authorities are asking — and increasingly, ordering — people to find alternative accommodations so they can self-isolate safely.
Here are some examples of how hotels and quarantine facilities are being used to keep the virus from spreading through communities.
TRAVELLERS WAITING FOR TEST RESULTS
As the federal government rolls out new restrictions to prevent contagious mutations of the COVID-19 virus from crossing the border, more travellers are set to be sent to hotels and other facilities to serve at least part of their mandatory 14-day quarantine.
Under the new rules, which are expected to take effect soon, returning travellers will have to take a COVID-19 test at the airport at their own expense. They’re then required to spend the first three days of their quarantine at a supervised hotel while awaiting their results, and foot the bill for their stay, upwards of $2,000.
Those with negative results can serve the remainder of their two-week quarantine at home, while those with positive tests will be sent to government-designated facilities.
FEDERALLY DESIGNATED FACILITIES FOR TRAVELLERS IN QUARANTINE
Since the outbreak took hold in Canada, Ottawa has been putting up travellers in hotels and other lodging sites as a “last resort” for those without a suitable place to self-isolate, said a spokeswoman for the Public Health Agency of Canada.
Tammy Jarbeau said in an email that the agency currently operates 11 designated quarantine facilities in nine cities across Canada, with access to two provincially run sites.
These sites had lodged 5,030 travellers, as of Jan. 24, said Jarbeau. She said the cost of the program wasn’t readily available.
As of last Thursday, all international passenger flights must land at one of four airports — Vancouver, Toronto, Calgary or Montreal. Jarbeau said the government designates or cancels quarantine sites as needed, but declined to disclose their locations to “protect the privacy and safety of travellers.”
4:05 Ottawa unveils new measures to discourage travel
Ottawa unveils new measures to discourage travel – Jan 29, 2021
Two of the northern territories have long required travellers to make a public-health pit stop before entry.
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To fly back to Nunavut, residents must first spend two weeks at health isolation sites in Ottawa, Winnipeg, Edmonton or Yellowknife before they can be cleared to return to their home community. The territory covers costs such as a hotel room, meals and internet access, but travellers are responsible for any additional flight expenses.
Travellers headed to Northwest Territories must self-isolate in one of four communities: Yellowknife, Inuvik, Hay River or Fort Smith. Those who don’t have a place to quarantine are sent to isolation centres.
Last month, the territory said it would no longer pay to put up residents travelling for recreational reasons. Non-residents still have to cover their own accommodations.
2:21 Canadian couple accused of vaccine queue jumping in Yukon
Canadian couple accused of vaccine queue jumping in Yukon – Jan 23, 2021
VOLUNTARY ISOLATION SITES
A growing number of jurisdictions are setting up voluntary COVID-19 isolation sites to help people recover from the virus without putting other members of their household at risk.
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Public health officials say many Canadians can’t safely self-isolate at home because of crowded housing conditions, contributing to the disproportionate spread of infections in low-income neighbourhoods.
The centres offer people a free, safe place to self-isolate as well as other services such as meals, security, transportation, income support and links to health care.
The federal government has committed roughly $29 million to support municipally run isolation sites in Toronto, Ottawa and the regions of Peel and Waterloo. The Ontario government is also spending $42 million to create and expand centres in locations across the province, adding up to1,525 more beds in coming weeks.
Joe Cressy, chair of the Toronto Board of Health, said people may be referred to the city’s self-isolation sites by COVID-19 case managers and community outreach workers, but individuals can access the facilities on their own accord.
Cressy said the city also runs a COVID-19 isolation site out of a hotel where people who are experiencing homelessness can stay while they’re sick. He noted that this recovery program is distinct from the hotels that are being used as temporary homeless shelters to support physical distancing.
1:58 COVID-19: Calgary Hotel Association worries about quarantine ‘wrath’ against members
COVID-19: Calgary Hotel Association worries about quarantine ‘wrath’ against members
ISOLATION HOTEL INCENTIVES
In Alberta, people who need to self-isolate because of COVID-19 concerns can not only stay in a hotel room free of charge, but may qualify for a $625 relief payment upon checkout.
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Earlier this week, the province expanded a temporary financial aid program intended to incentivize Albertans to self-isolate in a hotel if they can’t safely do so at home.
Since December, residents of hard-hit neighbourhoods in Edmonton and Calgary have been eligible for a $625 government payment at the end of their stay.
Now, the aid is open to all Albertans who have been referred by a provincial health authority.
EDMONTON – Canada’s Employment Minister Randy Boissonnault is apologizing after shifting claims of his Indigenous identity came under scrutiny.
The Edmonton Liberal member of Parliament says he’s sorry he hasn’t been clear about who he is and his family’s history and that he’s still learning about his heritage.
Boissonnault has previously referred to himself as “non-status adopted Cree from Alberta” and said his great-grandmother was a “full-blooded Cree woman.”
The apology comes after reports that a company co-owned by Boissonnault unsuccessfully bid on two federal contracts while identifying itself as Indigenous and Aboriginal owned.
Boissonnault says he never claimed Indigenous status to his business partner, and he corrected the Liberal party as soon as he became aware of its public claim that he’s Indigenous.
The Conservative party has called for Boissonnault to testify before the ethics committee and answer for what it calls serious allegations of fraud.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 15, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Intense flooding that hammered British Columbia’s coast last month has led to more than $110 million in insured damage claims.
The Insurance Bureau of Canada says insurers have been working with clients for the last few weeks since the Category 4 atmospheric river caused “significant flood damage” to Metro Vancouver properties in Coquitlam, Burnaby, West Vancouver, North Vancouver, and Surrey.
The bureau says the intense rainfall and wind — which prompted a local state of emergency in North Vancouver on Oct. 20 — resulted in overflowing rivers, sewer backups, and flooding on roads and in parking garages and basements.
It says that while some residential flood insurance is available, it may be limited or inaccessible to some, forcing them to rely on government disaster financial assistance for their recovery.
About 10 per cent of Canadian households cannot access flood insurance, and the bureau is again calling on the federal government to “fully fund” the National Flood Insurance Program.
It says a national program would provide financial protection to high-risk households, and reduce disaster costs to federal and provincial government treasuries.
“Rather than responding with disaster financial assistance in the aftermath of catastrophes, this program would be a proactive, cost-effective approach to managing the financial toll when disasters strike,” the bureau says in a news release.
“While the federal government has committed to its creation, the program has yet to be fully funded.”
It says insured losses related to severe weather in Canada now routinely exceed $3 billion annually and a new record has been set this year, reaching more than $7.7 billion.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 15, 2024.
MONTREAL – Amid heavy criticism across party lines, an opposition member of the provincial legislature is not backing down from comments that his fellow lawmakers say painted them as racist.
Haroun Bouazzi of Québec solidaire has been criticized this week for a speech delivered recently before a community group that works with immigrants.
He told the audience that every day in the national assembly he witnesses “the construction of the other” — which he described as a perception that the cultures of people who are North African, Muslim, Black or Indigenous are dangerous and inferior.
Other political parties said Bouazzi’s remarks equated to labelling members of the national assembly as racist, and there have been calls for him to be sanctioned.
The co-leaders of Bouazzi’s left-leaning Québec solidaire rebuked him on Thursday, saying his comments were “clumsy and exaggerated.”
Bouazzi explained on Thursday that he was trying to express his concern over the daily discourse at the national assembly, which he said seems to point fingers at immigrants and newcomers as the source of many of Quebec’s problems.
In a radio interview Friday, Bouazzi remained unapologetic and singled out members of the governing Coalition Avenir Québec and opposition Parti Québécois, who he said blamed immigration for social ills.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 15, 2024.
