Confused about Ottawa’s strict new rules designed to discourage travel during the COVID-19 pandemic?
You’re not alone.
After the federal government announced the new travel measures on Jan. 29, CBC News was flooded with emails from Canadians wanting to know more — including how Ottawa came up with a $2,000 hotel quarantine bill.
So far, the government has offered only broad details about the new rules, but it promises to provide more information in the coming days.
Here’s what we know now.
Air passenger rules explained
Some of the government’s new travel measures are already in place. On Jan. 31, Canada’s major airlines — in an agreement with Ottawa — cancelled all flights to Mexico and the Caribbean until April 30.
Several American airlines still fly from Canada to those destinations, but passengers will encounter at least one U.S. stopover along the way.
Canada’s airlines are still flying to the United States, because essential workers need to travel between Canada and the U.S. during the pandemic, Transport Canada told CBC News on Thursday.
Canada-bound passengers must provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test before boarding their flight, and all flights entering the country are now being funnelled into four major airports in Montreal, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver.
According to the government, most air passengers entering Canada will soon be required to take another COVID-19 test upon arrival and wait for the results — up to three days — in a designated hotel. Passengers who test negative can leave and finish the rest of their 14-day quarantine at home.
Those with positive test results will be required to stay at a designated government facility.
What about the cost?
Passengers will be billed for their hotel stay, and Ottawa has suggested the cost could be about $2,000. It’s unclear if two people sharing a room would have to pay double that amount.
Many people have questioned how a three-day stay in a hotel could total $2,000. The government says the amount would also cover related expenses, such as the cost of the test, transportation, hotel security and added health protections for hotel staff. Presumably, meals would be included as well.
“It’s not just simply the cost of a hotel room,” Public Safety Minister Bill Blair said on Jan. 29.
He said travellers shouldn’t balk at the price tag.
“We think that if they’re going to make that choice [to travel], that they should bear the full cost and responsibility of all the measures that are necessary to keep Canadians safe.”
Any exceptions to the rule?
The government has said that there will be “limited exceptions” to the hotel quarantine requirement, but it hasn’t yet laid out who will be exempt. At a news conference on Tuesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau suggested that there could be some wiggle room for extreme cases.
“Obviously, there may be particular compassionate or humanitarian exceptions that must be made in given situations, and we’ll look at those,” he said.
WATCH | Do new COVID-19 travel restrictions go far enough?:
Infectious disease physicians answer questions about the COVID-19 pandemic, including whether Canada’s new travel restrictions go far enough and what’s been learned about variants. 5:41
Dr. Theresa Tam, Canada’s chief public health officer, said on Friday that it’s unclear if vaccinated people can still get the virus without developing symptoms and then infect others.
“The scientific principle underpinning the application of vaccines for international travel cannot be made at this time, because we do not know if the vaccines reduce transmission,” she told CBC News.
But on Feb. 2, Trudeau indicated that it could be weeks before the hotel quarantine requirement takes effect.
“We hope to have that implemented within the month — weeks to come,” he said in French at a news conference. “People are working very hard to create a system so that it is established before people start travelling for the March break.”
What happens if I refuse to comply?
In a news release announcing the new travel measures, the government also laid out the fines for breaking the country’s quarantine requirement. Violators could face serious penalties, including six months in jail and/or up to $750,000 in fines.
What about the land border?
Because the Canada-U.S. land border is closed to non-essential traffic, most of the people currently crossing into Canada by land are essential workers who are exempt from quarantine.
At this point, the hotel quarantine rule won’t apply to travellers crossing into Canada by land. But the government has indicated it’s working on tougher rules at the land border, such as a COVID-19 test requirement for non-essential travellers.
“We’re also looking at ways to further strengthen our land border measures,” Trudeau said on Friday. “We’ll have more to announce on this soon.”
KITCHENER, Ont. – Prosecutors are arguing a man who stabbed a professor and two students in a University of Waterloo gender studies class last year should face a lengthy sentence because of the attack’s lasting impact on campus safety and security.
Federal prosecutor Althea Francis says a sentence in the upper range is appropriate not only because Geovanny Villalba-Aleman wanted to send a message about his views but also because he sought to make those with different beliefs feel unsafe.
The Crown has said it is seeking a sentence of 16 years for Villalba-Aleman, who pleaded guilty to four charges in the June 2023 campus attack.
The sentencing hearing for Villalba-Aleman began Monday and is expected to continue all week.
Federal prosecutors argued Tuesday that Villalba-Aleman’s statement to police, and a manifesto that was found on his phone, show his actions were motivated by ideology and meant to intimidate a segment of the population.
Villalba-Aleman pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated assault, one count of assault with a weapon and one count of assault causing bodily harm.
A video of his statement to police was shown in court earlier in the sentencing hearing.
In the video, Villalba-Aleman told police he felt colleges and universities were imposing ideology and restricting academic freedom, and he wanted the attack to serve as a “wake-up call.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 23, 2024.
OTTAWA – The Bank of Canada cut its key policy interest rate by 50 basis points on Wednesday to bring it to 3.75 per cent. Here’s what people are saying about the decision:
“High inflation and interest rates have been a heavy burden for Canadians. With inflation now back to target and interest rates continuing to come down, families, businesses and communities should feel some relief.” — Tiff Macklem, Bank of Canada governor.
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“Activity in Canada’s housing market has been sluggish in many regions due to higher borrowing costs, but today’s more aggressive cut to lending rates could cause the tide to turn quickly. For those with variable rate mortgages – who will benefit from the rate drop immediately – or those with fast-approaching loan renewals, today’s announcement is welcome news indeed.” — Phil Soper, president and CEO of Royal LePage.
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“This won’t be the end of rate cuts. Even with the succession of policy cuts since June, rates are still way too high given the state of the economy. To bring rates into better balance, we have another 150 bps in cuts pencilled in through 2025. So while the pace of cuts going forward is now highly uncertain, the direction for rates is firmly downwards.” — James Orlando, director and senior economist at TD Bank.
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“The size of the December rate cut will depend on upcoming job and inflation data, but a 25 basis point cut remains our baseline.” — Tu Nguyen, economist with assurance, tax and consultancy firm RSM Canada.
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“Today’s outsized rate cut is mostly a response to the heavy-duty decline in headline inflation in the past few months. However, the underlying forecast and the Bank’s mild tone suggest that the future default moves will be 25 bp steps, unless growth and/or inflation surprise again to the downside.” — Douglas Porter, chief economist at Bank of Montreal.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 23, 2024.
