Key Takeaways:
- If fully immunized visitors are crossing the land border, neglect to use the ArriveCAN app to provide the required health records.
- Despite the increased border procedures, travelers and computer experts continue to call for the removal of the ArriveCAN app because of privacy issues.
If fully vaccinated travelers across the land border accidentally forget to submit the necessary health documentation using the ArriveCAN app, the federal government has discreetly amended its border regulations to grant them a one-time exemption from fines or quarantine requirements.
The Canada Crossing Services Agency (CBSA) said the one-time exception would only be provided to fully immunized travelers who have not had a history of non-compliance at the border in an email statement sent to CTVNews.ca on Saturday.
According to the email from CBSA senior spokesperson Rebecca Purdy, “temporary measures have been put in place at the land border as of May 2022 for fully immunized travelers with a right of entry to provide more flexibility to travelers with no history of non-compliance, who might have been unsure of the requirement to submit their mandatory health information via ArriveCAN.”
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All immunized Canadian citizens, permanent residents, and anyone enrolled under the Indian Act arriving through the land are eligible for the one-time exemption. Foreign nationals have now also been included in the exemption as of July 29.
Travelers granted the exemption must still present immunization documentation at the port of entry.
After the initial exemption, Canadian citizens, permanent residents, and anyone covered by the Indian Act must submit the requested documentation via the app to avoid testing, quarantine, or fines of up to $5,000. Visitors from abroad will refuse entry into the nation.
The CBSA claims that over 300,000 travelers have already been given a one-time exemption, although the additional procedures have not yet been added to the site’s travel requirements.
“We can tell you that the one-time exemption was used 308,800 times from May 24 to August 4, 2022, of the 5,086,187 land border travelers with a right of the entrance,” Purdy added.
Travelers and computer experts continue to urge the ArriveCAN app to be removed despite the new border controls due to privacy concerns. The program’s most recent controversy was in July after a bug unintentionally quarantined some users.
Source: CTV News
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