Canada will keep ArriveCan for its data on COVID-19-positive travellers: sources
The federal government has no intention of dropping the controversial ArriveCan app because it gives the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) key health information about travellers who test positive for COVID-19 through testing at airports and land borders, senior government sources tell CTV News.
PHAC uses data that travellers enter in the ArriveCan app to identify the vaccination status and destinations of people who test positive as a part of the mandatory random testing program at Canada’s borders.
Since provinces are no longer collecting significant data from PCR tests done at the local and provincial level, senior government sources describe the data gained from the ArriveCan app as the last line of COVID defence in Canada.
PHAC said the selection process for who gets tested at a border crossing is determined by a computer algorithm that “selects a representative sample of fully vaccinated travellers based on statistical parameters,” according to a statement from the agency.
Those statistical parameters set by PHAC are based in part on global epidemiology trends, which a senior government source admits can make travellers coming to Canada from countries that have a low vaccination rate or are experiencing an outbreak, more likely to be flagged for mandatory random testing.
PHAC believes border testing and information gained from the ArriveCan app make the agency “better prepared for possible future waves.”
Dr. Isaac Bogoch, an infectious disease expert with Toronto's University Health Network, believes that detailed data gained through the ArriveCan app can help PHAC, if the information is being used properly.
“This could possibly give Canada some intelligence as to what circulating variants of concern there may be in other parts of the world, which can be very helpful information,” said Bogoch.
ArriveCan data is only accessed by PHAC if a traveller tests positive for COVID-19, but all data inputted into the app “will be retained for a minimum of two years following its last administration use” by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), according to the privacy notice within the ArriveCan app.
The same privacy notice also states personal information submitted in the app can be shared with a wide variety of groups, including “other government intuitions, as well as provincial, territorial, municipal governments or international health organizations.”
Conservative Transportation Critic Melissa Lantsman said she is concerned that the government did not previously make a clear link between information travellers put in the ArriveCan app and testing information gathered by PHAC.
“I think most Canadians don't know that. And I think Canadians have a right to know where their data is being used, how long it's being used for and what the purpose of that is,” said Lantsman.
Mandatory random testing was suspended on June 11 to help ease congestion at airports and was scheduled to be reinstated on July 1. However, the federal government pushed back its return until mid-July.
A senior government source said the reason for testing being pushed back was due to the CBSA being unable to update the ArriveCan app to help accommodate unvaccinated Canadian travellers by the Canada Day deadline.
Industry and union leaders have been calling for the federal government to end the requirement to fill out the ArriveCan app to help alleviate the chaos at airports.
Mark Weber, president of the Customs and Immigration Union, believes scrapping the app would improve the experience for those entering Canada.
“Removing the app would shorten wait times, would give our officers less duties and would allow us to focus more on doing the customs work that we're really there to do,” said Weber.
Alexander Cohen, a spokesperson for Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino, whose office is responsible for ArriveCan, said that the app helps streamline the travel process by ensuring that people entering Canada fill out necessary documents before seeing a customs agent.
Cohen stated that 99.71 per cent of travellers coming to Canada by air “are successfully filling out” their information in the app, a number that Weber said is that high only because customs agents help travellers fill the app out.
“The real numbers are closer to 60 per cent or 70 per cent, who arrived with the app completed and awful lot arrive not even knowing that they had to complete the app,” said Weber.
IN DEPTH
Budget 2024 prioritizes housing while taxing highest earners, deficit projected at $39.8B
In an effort to level the playing field for young people, in the 2024 federal budget, the government is targeting Canada's highest earners with new taxes in order to help offset billions in new spending to enhance the country's housing supply and social supports.
'One of the greatest': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney commemorated at state funeral
Prominent Canadians, political leaders, and family members remembered former prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney as an ambitious and compassionate nation-builder at his state funeral on Saturday.
'Democracy requires constant vigilance' Trudeau testifies at inquiry into foreign election interference in Canada
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau testified Wednesday before the national public inquiry into foreign interference in Canada's electoral processes, following a day of testimony from top cabinet ministers about allegations of meddling in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections. Recap all the prime minister had to say.
As Poilievre sides with Smith on trans restrictions, former Conservative candidate says he's 'playing with fire'
Siding with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith on her proposed restrictions on transgender youth, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre confirmed Wednesday that he is against trans and non-binary minors using puberty blockers.
Supports for passengers, farmers, artists: 7 bills from MPs and Senators to watch in 2024
When parliamentarians return to Ottawa in a few weeks to kick off the 2024 sitting, there are a few bills from MPs and senators that will be worth keeping an eye on, from a 'gutted' proposal to offer a carbon tax break to farmers, to an initiative aimed at improving Canada's DNA data bank.
Opinion
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
opinion Don Martin: The doctor Trudeau dumped has a prescription for better health care
Political columnist Don Martin sat down with former federal health minister Jane Philpott, who's on a crusade to help fix Canada's broken health care system, and who declined to take any shots at the prime minister who dumped her from caucus.
opinion Don Martin: Trudeau's seeking shelter from the housing storm he helped create
While Justin Trudeau's recent housing announcements are generally drawing praise from experts, political columnist Don Martin argues there shouldn’t be any standing ovations for a prime minister who helped caused the problem in the first place.
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre has the field to himself as he races across the country to big crowds
It came to pass on Thursday evening that the confidentially predictable failure of the Official Opposition non-confidence motion went down with 204 Liberal, BQ and NDP nays to 116 Conservative yeas. But forcing Canada into a federal election campaign was never the point.
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'Looking over our shoulders': A killing looms large in a little B.C. town
Something shifted in the pretty little village of Lumby, B.C., after Tatjana Stefanski vanished. It used to be the sort of place where parents let their kids roam free or play in the local creek, but everything has changed.
Officer who arrested Scottie Scheffler is being disciplined for not having bodycam activated
The Kentucky police officer who arrested top-ranked golfer Scottie Scheffler outside the PGA Championship is receiving “corrective action” for failing to have his body-worn camera activated.
Toronto man falls off his chair after seeing $70M Lotto Max win in his bank account
A Toronto man who won $70 million in a recent Lotto Max draw literally fell off his chair when he saw the funds in his bank account.
Montreal-area high school students protest 'sexist' dress code
Students at Curé-Antoine-Labelle High School near Montreal are protesting after they say their school's administration started pushing what they call a 'sexist' dress code.
'I won't stop,' Celine Dion says in trailer for upcoming doc about her health woes
Celine Dion's fans are getting a first glimpse of the superstar's struggle with a rare neurological disorder in an emotional trailer for an upcoming documentary about her career and life.
Air travel is expensive. WestJet wants the government to do more to change that
WestJet is asking the federal government to put measures in place to lower ticket costs for travellers, but questions remain on who would foot the bill.
Hundreds have applied for this 'adventurer' job in Banff National Park
Coined as Banff's 'ultimate summer job,' the Moraine Lake Bus Company says hundreds of people from across the world have applied for its adventurer position.
Dangerous brew: Ocean heat and La Nina combo likely mean more Atlantic hurricanes this summer
Get ready for what nearly all the experts think will be one of the busiest Atlantic hurricane seasons on record, thanks to unprecedented ocean heat and a brewing La Nina.
U.S. senators write to Trudeau asking him to meet 2% GDP defence spending commitment
A bipartisan group of 23 U.S. senators have written to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau urging his country to live up to its commitment to spend 2 per cent of GDP on defence amid concerns that key members of the NATO alliance are not pulling their weight.
Local Spotlight
'Near and dear to all filmmakers': Return of Regina's discount theatre bodes well for fans, movie makers alike
The proprietors of Regina's sole discount theatre are aware they're carrying on a significant legacy.
'Best experience ever': B.C. baker on making it to the finals of Netflix's 'Is it Cake?'
When Jujhar Mann said he wanted to be a pastry chef on a grade school career project, he didn't imagine that pursuing his dream would land him on a popular Netflix baking competition.
Winnipeg flair on the menu at neighbourhood Houston restaurant
A city known for its history, ties to outer space and southern barbecue, is also home to a Winnipeg chef dishing out dozens of perogies.
Montreal photographer captures dramatic Canada goose vs. fox fight on video
A Montreal photographer captured the moment a Canada goose defended itself from a fox at the Botanical Garden.
Beyond books: Halifax libraries lends instruments, sports equipment, memory kits and more
Public libraries in Atlantic Canada are now lending a broader range of items.
'A special bird': The unbreakable bond between purple martins and humans
Flashes of purple darting across the sky mixed with the serenading sound of songs will be noticed more with spring in full force in Manitoba.
7-year-old Pokémon prodigy heading to Hawaii for world championship tournament
Catching 'em all with impressive speed, a 7-year-old boy from Windsor, Ont. who only started his competitive Pokémon journey seven months ago has already levelled up to compete at a world championship level.
VIDEO Born without front legs, this dog has been inspiring the world for 3 years: Dresden farm owner
A sanctuary dedicated to animals with disabilities is celebrating the third birthday of one of its most popular residents.
From DVDs to rehearsals: Halifax theatre company transforms Video Difference building into arts hub
2b Theatre recently moved into the old Video Difference building, seeking to transform it into an artistic hub, meeting space, and temporary housing unit for visiting performers in Halifax.