OTTAWA -- Since March, Canada has admitted approximately 5.3 million travellers, most of them essential workers, who have been exempted from the mandatory 14-day quarantine.
According to figures from the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), from March 31, 2020 to November 12, 2020, an approximate total of 6,544,803 travellers entered the country, of which 81 per cent were not required to isolate upon arrival.
“The Canadian border remains closed to discretionary travel, therefore the majority of individuals who have crossed the border are exempt travellers,” said senior CBSA spokesperson Rebecca Purdy in an email.
Of the total entrants, 50 per cent, or 3.2 million travellers, were truck drivers who are part of the border exemption measures.
CBSA has told CTVNews.ca that these figures are approximate as the statistics have been counted as unique entries, meaning that a single essential worker, such as a truck driver, could cross every single day and would be counted each time.
Purdy also clarified that the statistic of 81 per cent being exempt is not precise because specific and consistent tracking of essential workers didn’t begin until the end of July.
In order for a traveller to be exempt from mandatory quarantine requirements, they must meet an exception outlined in the order enforcing the Quarantine Act.
Essential travellers who have been exempt include health workers, first responders, and other providers of emergency services, including delivering or repairing medically necessary equipment.
Over the course of the pandemic, separate exemptions have been made for certain close family members of Canadian citizens, but those travellers have largely been required to complete a 14 day self-isolation upon arrival.
The exemption — including for essential workers — does not apply if the traveller is experiencing any signs or symptoms of COVID-19 infection.
As of October, when the federal government eased the current cross-border travel policies on family reunification and boosted monitoring for travellers entering the country, Public Safety Minister Bill Blair said that since the start of the pandemic, between two and three per cent of all COVID-19 cases confirmed in Canada have been tied to travel.
The Canada-U.S. land border has been closed to non-essential travel since March, and the restrictions have been extended every month since. The current extension of the travel restrictions is set to expire on Nov. 21 but sources tell CTV News the border is set to stay closed until Dec. 21 at least.
Blair’s office told CTVNews.ca that the decision about continuing the closures for another month “will be made in Canada, with the best interest of Canadians as our top priority.”
