Canadians returning from abroad will be required to provide negative PCR test results for the coronavirus, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Friday. Those testing negative will still be required to self-quarantine for two weeks.
Anyone with a positive coronavirus test “will be immediately required to quarantine in designated government facilities,” Trudeau declared.
Trudeau said:
As soon as possible in the coming weeks, we will be introducing mandatory PCR testing at the airport for people returning to Canada. Travelers will then have to wait for up to three days at an approved hotel for their test results at their own expense, which is expected to be more than $2,000.
Those with negative test results will then be able to quarantine at home under significantly increased surveillance and enforcement. Those with positive tests will be immediately required to quarantine in designated government facilities to make sure they’re not carrying variants of potential concern. We will also in the coming weeks be requiring nonessential travelers to show a negative test before entry at the land border with the U.S., and we’re working to stand up additional testing requirements for land travel.
WATCH (relevant portion begins at 4:10):
Trudeau repeatedly referred to the coronavirus “variants” as a cause of “potential concern” while describing his decrees as “grounded in science and evidence.”
Transport Canada’s website states, “Anyone who receives a negative test result and is authorized to enter Canada must still complete the full, mandatory 14-day quarantine. Canada’s government “will be further increasing surveillance efforts to ensure travellers entering Canada complete the applicable mandatory 14-day quarantine period under the Quarantine Act.”
Travelers deemed “not suitable” by a “government official” are “required to quarantine in a federal quarantine facility,” adds Canada’s Transportation Ministry. It warns that violations of such instructions “could lead to up to six months in prison and/or $750,000 in fines”:
Federal authorities will enforce 14-day quarantines by visiting Canadians’ homes or other “quarantine locations” with “screening officers” procured by the Public Health Agency of Canada from private security firms:
To ensure travellers’ awareness and compliance with quarantine requirements, the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) is working with security companies to help complete compliance checks for travellers arriving in Canada. Employees of these companies were trained by PHAC and authorized as Screening Officers under the Quarantine Act. These Screening Officers will visit travellers’ quarantine locations to establish contact, confirm identity and confirm that travellers are at the place of quarantine they identified upon entry into Canada. These new officers will conduct visits in 35 cities across the country, starting in Montréal and Toronto.
No exemptions were announced for Canadians who have received a coronavirus vaccine.
Canada’s new travel restrictions include termination of flights to Mexico and the Caribbean until at least April 30.