It was just after midnight on April 17 when Jeff Geauvreau landed at Pearson International Airport in Toronto after a long journey from Peru, a country hit hard by COVID-19.
He told border officials at the airport that he was returning to Canada after nearly 10 years abroad and had no safe place to complete the mandatory two-week quarantine. He had planned to stay with his elderly father, who would have been at risk of contracting the novel coronavirus.
After a brief interview with public health officials, he was told to board a shuttle bus and was driven to a federal quarantine facility about 10 minutes away.
Geauvreau is one of more than 3,000 returning travellers who have spent the two-week quarantine period at a hotel paid for by the federal government, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC).
“Hopefully, it wasn’t going to be, you know, barracks,” Geauvreau recalled thinking at the time. “I didn’t know what to expect.”
The quarantine facility turned out to be a “very nice” hotel, he said.
Jeff Geauvreau, shown in Guelph, Ont., on Aug. 14, is one of thousands of returning Canadians who, due to lack of adequate lodgings, spent 14 days in a hotel self-isolating as part of federal measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19. (Evan Mitsui/CBC)
Geauvreau said he was examined by nurses and then accompanied to his room, which was a suite complete with bedroom, living room, bathroom and two televisions. It’s not clear if his room was typical of the kind of accommodation provided to returning travellers.
“It was plush … nice, big, bed,” he recalled. “It was a lot more than I expected. I mean, you expect the worst, and you hope for the best. And, you know, it was very nice.”
11 federal sites across Canada
As of Aug. 16, 3,222 people had been put up at hotels paid for by the government. By the end of July, the cost of providing the quarantine sites had exceeded $37 million, the PHAC said.
The bedroom of Geauvreau’s hotel suite in Toronto, where he stayed in quarantine for two weeks in April after arriving from Peru. (Submitted by Jeff Geauvreau)
“Quarantine facilities are used to lodge persons entering Canada who are unable to isolate or quarantine because they are unable to meet the conditions of the mandatory isolation order (e.g., live with a vulnerable person, do not have private transportation if they are symptomatic),” Public Health Agency of Canada spokesperson Geoffroy Legault-Thivierge said in a statement.
The agency did not give a detailed breakdown of the costs but said they include accommodation, meals, transport, health checks and security. Some quarantine sites have a nurse practitioner on site 24/7.
There are 11 federal quarantine sites across the country and another two run jointly by federal and provincial governments. The 11 federal sites can house a total of 1,500 people, Legault-Thivierge said.
The rooms are available only as a last resort, PHAC spokesperson Tammy Jarbeau said in a statement.
“We expect that most travellers will quarantine in their own home or in the same place they are visiting in Canada,” she said.
“If this is not possible, travellers are responsible for making alternative arrangements for quarantine accommodations that are within their own financial means.”
Before admitting anyone into a quarantine facility, government representatives work with them to ensure “all other options … within their own means have been exhausted,” Jarbeau said.
Rooms reserved in March
The federal government reserved the hotel rooms soon after issuing a public health order on March 25 requiring a 14-day quarantine period for travellers returning to Canada.
Travellers interviewed by CBC News who stayed in the hotels said they were typically mid-range hotels located near airports.
(CBC)
Hotel Association of Canada president and CEO Susie Grynol said the group worked with Ottawa to secure a small number of hotels close to international airports to allow people to quarantine.
“We were proud to support public health in their efforts to flatten the curve, but it was not a profit-generating exercise,” she said in an emailed statement to CBC News. “At that point, most hotels were virtually closed down.”
The government will not reveal which hotels are being used as quarantine facilities to protect the privacy and security of those staying there, the PHAC said in a statement.
Food, essentials brought to the door
Vijayendra Yalavarthi, who arrived in Toronto from India in June under the federal skilled worker program, said he was taken to the hotel in an ambulance after telling border officials that his Airbnb rental had fallen through.
Both he and Geauvreau said they stayed in suites.
Food was left outside the room three times a day.
One of the meals served at the Toronto hotel where Canadians with nowhere safe to stay were quarantined by the federal government. (Submitted by Jeff Geauvreau)
“The dinner portion is really good,” Yalavarthi said. “They used to experiment a lot. They give you … like, rice with Indian recipes like paneer or curry. They … try it, and it’s really good, actually.”
Family and friends were not allowed to visit the hotel, but the Canadian Red Cross would call once a day, Geauvreau said.
“They’d see if you needed anything…. [My] USB cables were broken, so I got some USB cables,” he said. “I think I got some powdered drink mix, and [they] dropped me off a book…. If you needed emergency socks or underwear or a shirt or something, they would get it for you.”
There were health checks twice a day, during which nurses would stand outside the room, take his temperature and ask a series of questions, Geauvreau said. If anyone showed symptoms during one of these checks, they were moved to a lower floor of the hotel.
Cleaners in HAZMAT suits would wipe down surfaces in the room once a day, he said.
‘You’re not leaving that room’
Initially, Geauvreau said, it was nice to have a quiet room where he could rest and recover from the long journey.
But after a few days, the suite started to feel small and confined. And he couldn’t leave because he didn’t have a key card.
Like other returning passengers to Canada, Geauvreau was not allowed to leave the Toronto hotel room where he was quarantined for two weeks. (Evan Mitsui/CBC)
“You’re not leaving that room. And once you enter the facility, when you sign [in] downstairs, you have no rights to leave, under no circumstances,” he said. “They can arrest anybody that tries to leave.”
One man “was kind of going stir crazy” and had to be subdued by security guards when he became loud and aggressive in a hotel corridor, Geauvreau said.
Yalavarthi, who arrived as a permanent resident from India, stayed at the same hotel two months later.
“The first few days, I felt like I was being jailed,” he said.
The IT professional said he was allowed to go outside to a designated walking area in a parking lot, but only while accompanied by security.
Hotel option not publicized
Both Geauvreau and Yalavarthi said they learned about the federal quarantine sites through online networks of people coming to Canada from abroad.
There is no official government website that includes details, so Yalavarthi kept it as a backup option, only opting to use the option when his Airbnb reservations fell through.
Vijayendra Yalavarthi, who arrived in Toronto from India in June under the federal skilled worker program, said he was taken to the hotel in an ambulance after telling border officials that his Airbnb rental had fallen through. (Evan Mitsui/CBC)
CBC News interviewed several other travellers who expressed frustration that there were no details about the hotels available online.
Yalavarthi made a YouTube video documenting his experience to let others know about the option.
Overall, he said he is grateful for the experience and the measures the Canadian government is taking to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
“I would really thank them,” he said.
Yalavarthi said when a family member in India got COVID-19, he did not feel well supported by the Indian government. “But here in Canada, even [if] I don’t have COVID symptoms, they’re ready to help me.”
As a recently arrived immigrant, Yalavarthi said the experience made him feel welcome in Canada and well taken care of. The experience has motivated him to give back, he said, and happy to pay his taxes to the government to help cover the costs.
“If you welcome someone, they will try to help you in future. That’s what I believe.”
LONGUEUIL, Que. – People in a part of Longueuil, Que., were being asked to stay indoors with their doors and windows closed on Thursday morning after a train derailed, spilling an unknown quantity of hydrogen peroxide.
Police from the city just east of Montreal said it didn’t appear anyone was hurt, although a CN rail official told a news conference that three employees had been taken to hospital as a precautionary measure.
The derailment happened at around 9 a.m. in the LeMoyne area, near the intersection of St-Louis and St-Georges streets. Mathieu Gaudreault, a spokesman for CN rail, said about eight cars derailed at the Southwark rail facility, including four that toppled over.
“As of this morning, the information we have is it’s hydrogen peroxide that was in the rail car and created the fumes we saw,” he said, adding that there was no risk of fire.
François Boucher, a spokesman for the Longueuil police department, said police were asking people in the area, including students at nearby schools, to stay indoors while experts ensure the air is safe to breathe.
“It is as a preventive measure that we encourage people to really avoid exposing themselves unnecessarily,” he told reporters near the scene.
Police and fire officials were on site, as well as CN railworkers, and a large security perimeter was erected.
Officers were asking people to avoid the sector, and the normally busy Highway 116 was closed in the area. The confinement notice includes everyone within 800 metres of the derailment, officials said, who added that it would be lifted once a team with expertise in dangerous materials has given the green light.
In addition to closing doors and windows, people in the area covered by the notice are asked to close heating, ventilation and air exchange systems, and to stay as far from windows as possible.
Gaudreault said it wasn’t yet clear what caused the derailment. The possibilities include a problem with the track, a problem with a manoeuvre, or a mechanical issue, he said.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 14, 2024.
HALIFAX – Nova Scotia’s Liberal party is promising to improve cellphone service and invest in major highways if the party is elected to govern on Nov. 26.
Party leader Zach Churchill says a Liberal government would spend $60 million on building 87 new cellphone towers, which would be in addition to the $66 million the previous Progressive Conservative government committed to similar projects last year.
As well, Churchill confirmed the Liberals want to improve the province’s controlled access highways by adding exits along Highway 104 across the top of the mainland, and building a bypass along Highway 101 near Digby.
Churchill says the Liberals would add $40 million to the province’s $500 million capital budget for highways.
Meanwhile, the leaders of the three major political parties were expected to spend much of today preparing for a televised debate that will be broadcast tonight at 6 p.m. local time.
Churchill will face off against Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Houston and NDP Leader Claudia Chender during a 90-minute debate that will be carried live on CBC TV and streamed online.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 14, 2024.
TORONTO – A group of hotel service workers in Toronto is set to hold a rally today outside the Fairmont Royal York to demand salary increases as hotel costs in the city skyrocket during Taylor Swift’s concerts.
Unite Here Local 75, the union representing 8,000 hospitality workers in the Greater Toronto Area, says Royal York employees have not seen a salary increase since 2021, and have been negotiating a new contract with the hotel since 2022.
The rally comes as the megastar begins her series of six sold-out concerts in Toronto, with the last show scheduled for Nov. 23.
During show weekends, some hotel rooms and short-term rentals in Toronto are priced up to 10 times more than other weekends, with some advertised for as much as $2,000 per night.
The union says hotel workers who will be serving Swifties during her Toronto stops are bargaining for raises to keep up with the rising cost of living.
The union represents hospitality workers including food service employees, room attendants and bell persons.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 14, 2024.
