TORONTO -- The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) says hundreds of fines have been issued to travellers arriving in Canada for refusal to quarantine in a government-authorized hotel.
The agency told CTVNews.ca in an emailed statement on Wednesday that 404 tickets have been issued to travellers as of April 19 for refusing to stay in a quarantine hotel.
PHAC said 247 tickets have been issued in Ontario and 157 in British Columbia. The agency said it does not have any records of tickets being issued in Quebec, as tickets there are issued by provincial prosecutors and not by law enforcement.
PHAC said it is also not aware of any enforcement actions taken in Alberta for travellers refusing to go to a government-authorized accommodation (GAA).
Since Feb. 22, international travellers flying into Canada have had to get tested for COVID-19 upon landing and quarantine in a government-authorized hotel at their own expense while waiting for their test results. This can take up to three days and cost up to $2,000.
Fines for refusing to do so can cost up to $3,000 for each day of non-compliance. However, some travellers have been entering Canada by land to avoid the mandatory hotel quarantine which only applies to air traffic.
"Tickets for violations of the Quarantine Act, such as refusing to go to a GAA, are issued to travellers under the Contraventions Act," PHAC said in the statement.
While most provinces currently use this ticketing regime, the PHAC said Alberta, Saskatchewan, Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut do not use this format for issuing fines.
"While PHAC works closely with local law enforcement and receives data on most enforcement activities taken under the Quarantine Act, police services are not required to send enforcement information to PHAC. As such, there may be enforcement actions not accounted for in PHAC’s data," the agency said.
PHAC noted that since Canada implemented the Mandatory Isolation Order on March 25, 2020, 801 tickets have been issued to travellers for failing to comply with various requirements under the Quarantine Act.
The agency said that as of April 15, three travellers have also been arrested for violating the act.
PHAC noted that is has a "number of touchpoints with travellers" including sending emails to air travellers as well as calling "more than 6,000 travellers daily by live agent or automated calls" to promote compliance with quarantine requirements.
The agency said it also works with third-party security companies to conduct "compliance verification visits" with more than 179,000 travellers having received a visit at their place of quarantine since Jan. 29.
While hundreds of fines have been issued to international travellers refusing to stay at a quarantine hotel, PHAC said "compliance with the border measures has been high."
"From March 25, 2020 to April 19, 2021, PHAC is aware of police of jurisdiction following up with over 80,000 travellers, with 98 per cent of those travellers being found in compliance," the agency said.
