Circumventing the Hotel Quarantine Requirement
CBC released an article about people finding ways to circumvent the hotel quarantine requirement, so I thought I’d chime in my thoughts into the matter since it seems to be a hot topic.
Quarantine Requirement
We have written an extensive post already on the hotel quarantine requirements. Basically passengers need to provide a negative Covid-19 test result before boarding a plane. Upon arrival, they need to stay in a government approved hotel for up to 72 hours while they wait for another negative test results before they can go home to complete the remainder of the 14-day quarantine period.
The cost is about $2,000 per person for the 3-day stay, which may not be a cost that some people want to incur.
Avoiding Hotel Quarantine
Since there are different rules for land border crossings, which are less strict, it has become the most obvious way to avoid the $2,000 cost. Land crossing have different quarantine requirements than air travellers, as explained by the Canadian government:
- At land borders, we have 117 different points of entry, and many of those points of entry are located in remote, rural areas, not near hotels or other amenities…
What some people are planning to do is to fly to a nearby airport by the Canadian border, and then travel across by car or foot.
Thoughts on Effect to Canadian Airlines
If people find a way to circumvent the hotel quarantine, will it really discourage travel?
I cannot imagine that the government did not expect that Canadians would find ways to travel by land to cross the border instead. So I can’t help but wonder, is the government trying to discourage travel or punish Canadian airlines? Because the US based airlines are still going to have business with Canadians flying to a nearby US airport. So the ones who will end up losing out air Canadian airlines. Or am I overthinking it?
Either way, I just hope that we do not create a bigger problem by trying to solve another.
Listed Hotel Still Closed
Reminder that on February 22, 2021, the new air travel quarantine rule comes into effect. However, the application process to book an approved hotel is still closed. So the Federal Government is really cutting it close for people to book a mandatory hotel stay.
If you are still currently abroad, and these new rules affect you, be sure to continue to stay on top of your travel arrangements!