spouse of scouse

We've discussed this before. You don't have to spend 14 days in a hotel room. Rent holiday accommodation such as an airbnb with outside space. There's no reason for you to break the law.
https://www.canada.ca/en/public-heal...th-advice.html

Siouxie

What Province do you need to be in OM? Perhaps we can have a look around for you, see what's available? I strongly suggest you don't break the law!! Serious implications for having done so.


Exactly! The implications are extensive for non-compliance!

Who would want to risk the financial loss of up to $1m and prison time (which would impact their future for ever) - but just as important, who would want to be responsible for potentially causing someone's death because they didn't want to comply!



If OM can't afford the quarantine costs the Govt will put them in a place.. perhaps that's what they mean by being stuck in a hotel... there are alternatives if you have no symptoms (they are suggesting you DON'T stay in a hotel now) https://www.canada.ca/en/public-heal...ion-sheet.html

MarylandNed

Doubtful. About 66% of tourists to Canada are from the US (about 13 million out of about 20 million per year). A lot are probably short trips (maybe even day trips) but that's still a lot to make up - especially if people are deterred from flying because of the pandemic.

MarylandNed

The link even states "Avoid staying at a hotel". I'm not sure if this is just advice or a requirement. I have to quarantine for 14 weeks when I drive my daughter up from Maryland for her 2nd year at the University of Toronto. I'm looking for a house/cottage/cabin/apartment somewhere nearby (2-3 hrs from Toronto) with some outdoor space because we'll go nuts if confined to a hotel room.

https://www.canada.ca/content/dam/ph...canada-eng.pdf

MarylandNed

Why not? It would make a lot of sense to get flights up and running to/from low risk countries. Why would Canada have to wait for the US to get its act together?

MillieF

Wow! What does this mean...it is most interesting can you please elaborate? This isn’t a choice thing, as I understand it? It is a we WILL, as a group, for the better result of the ‘whole’ group...not one individual? How did you understand it and where did I get it wrong?

scrubbedexpat091

I was pretty certain it wouldn't be possible, I just didn't know what the numbers were.

Thanks.

OrangeMango

I'd go mad having to spend in a room for a prolonged period of time. Is that so difficult to understand. Sadly sometimes there are laws, where one simply can't realistically comply regardless if there are others who can or managed to do it. PR is not my status anyway, I am citizen. They'd have to catch me in the act first and they would actually have to convict me in a court of law, before a jail sentence is imposed.

I am also unclear, why Canada is so stubbornly refusing testing at the border. Iceland does it, and it's not that difficult to implement. The health effects for legalizing Cannabis are probably way worse in Canada, than one test out of thousands being incorrect. But again, that's a very hard discussion to have with anybody these days.

christmasoompa

Testing would be completely pointless anyway IMO. It would work for those who already have Covid-19, but if you've caught it on the flight over then how is that going to help? You wouldn't test positive, and then would be allowed to just wander around spreading it further. The whole point of quarantine is to avoid that happening and to save other people's lives.

And again, you don't need to spend time in a 'room'. You can hire a huge house with a garden, pool, tennis court etc if you wish. You can certainly afford to do that if you can afford to risk the fine. Risking other people's health, not to mention a jail sentence and large financial penalty, just because you don't like the arrangements is unbelievable tbh.

DigitalGhost

Have you ever lived in solitary confinement? It isn't even a method recommended for prisoners in the long run and can do very negative things to a sense of mental wellbeing.

The measures being stipulated by the Canadian authorities might be fine for a family who can just relax, eat delivery food and play board games for a couple of weeks but for a lot of single people or those who suffer from anxiety, it's nothing short of a nightmare.

DigitalGhost

If you're a citizen and you're in any way able to do so, I would honestly just recommend prolonging your return for another couple of months. It will likely be safer and less hassle in the long run.

christmasoompa

Of course it is, but even more of a nightmare to lose somebody you love from Covid-19, particularly if that was wholly avoidable and only due to somebody ignoring the rules. Relaxing, eating delivery food and playing board games aren't exclusively family activities, they can all be done by somebody alone too.

We have lots of friends and relatives who live alone and have been locked down at home for months now and haven't seen a single other person other than a grocery delivery driver. It's been utterly crap for them.

+1. If quarantine isn't acceptable, then just not travelling seems the obvious answer.

Twitcher1958

Looking forward with interest to see how things pan out over the next two weeks for us. We arrived at a ghostly quiet Pearson yesterday afternoon from Frankfurt, where we’d been questioned before flying, our temperatures taken and accepted Covid forms to complete with our contact details. All very efficient and cheerful - in fact the ladies there asked us to ‘tell Canada that we’re checking you properly’.

Arrived at a small cluster of tables at the end of the long fast travelator at Pearson to be handed a different form - big group of people all gathering quickly to complete exactly the same details in a slightly different format on a larger piece of paper. The form we’d all be given in Frankfurt wasn’t acceptable apparently although there was no real checking at the exit where we handed the forms in, only that each person had completed one.
We also already had all the same details filled in on an ArriveCAN app on the phone where we only needed a token apparently available at the airport but that didn’t materialize at all.

We are now at home where we’ll be, with the support of friends and neighbours, for the next two weeks, so it’ll be interesting to see if any contact is made in that time. We were advised before collecting our luggage on the date we’ll be free of quarantine.

Daughter of a friend in Hungary was officially checked everyday of her quarantine recently so it can be strictly enforced as required.

DigitalGhost

How many of those are just short visitors to Toronto, Vancouver or Niagara Falls though? I would guess that statistically tourists from Europe and East Asia will likely spend far more per capita than American tourists, just due to the expense, time in hassle involved in getting to Canada in the first place.

It's a tricky situation though and I can understand why easing restrictions for other parts of the world whilst keeping them in place for visitors from the US could be politically sensitive. This is of particular concern if fate decides to shovel yet another load onto the 2020 pile and Trump gets re-elected in November. Right now, the regime in Washington is far from normal or rational and we've already seen Trudeau treading carefully around them.

DigitalGhost

Well I think OrangeMango's argument in this case is that the rules are overzealous, unfair and unnecessary. As a Canadian citizen currently overseas, all they can do for now though is avoid travelling in the short-term and make their opinions known democratically at the next election.