OrangeMango

The masks never bothered me and I would still consider them on a voluntary basis in crowded places, it also wouldn't bother me if there was some other way other than this "ArriveCan idiocy" to store vaccination data for travellers. Strictly from an IT perspective one could upload those and have the information attached to your passport information, - same as a check with a criminal database of individuals who are not to enter the country. This could actually work without any extra apps, paperwork, reference numbers, QR codes or silly questions. I also disagreed with the quarantine requirements as they were disproportionate in a connected world of today. It would have worked back in the 18 and 19th centuries, but not today, with truck drivers making deliveries, etc...and it also didn't stop the spread, as there was more community spreading around. I also accuse politicians for being asleep at the wheel. Fall and Winter will be coming fast and so will new waves and variants, and the necessity for vaccinations. They should plan now, for later, - but currently I am not seeing any of that.

dbd33

My routine is to stay one night at the airport HI, go out for wings, take the shuttle bus to the terminal in the morning and leave the car at the hotel. On return the bus goes to the car. Even with the hotel and wings it's cheaper than parking at YYZ.

Gozit

I believe this is exactly how the arrivecan system works - you upload your proof of vaccination and it gets attached to your passport. I haven't actually been asked to show the QR in a while, they just swipe my passport and it comes up.

I agree re the masks and such, it seems like we are headed for more pandemonium in the fall with the lifting of restrictions, unless Omicron truly is the last variant, or we are going to go like the US and just not care about it anymore.

OrangeMango

The thing that bothers me regarding the Arrive Can system is that they either expect you to have a smartphone or a printout as another set of paperwork. I neither own a smartphone nor do I have a printer, so regarding printing I have to go somewhere, - an extra bureaucracy and that in a place where print shops are few and far between. If it's just uploading the vaccination certificate, and getting a number as a code, and using this code upon entry into Canada, or that being brought up automatic, as the ppt number is connected to the uploaded vaccination certificates, it would be fine, - plus even better if it was a worldwide system. - however that's sadly too much to ask from politicians.

Regarding, not caring about the pandemic would also not be my suggestion. What is needed are planable and reliable rules, to me this would only be the 4th vaccine and mask in crowded places, whether mandatory or not.
I think regarding travel restrictions Canada did by far one of the worst jobs in the western world, together with Australia, - they were probably the worst.

BristolUK

This cartoon was in my local newspaper today

printer

Ok so as far as the ArriveCAN app is concerned even though it states you must show proof of your receipt either in paper format or via smartphone in actual fact this isn't strictly necessary. When i offered to show my QR code receipt the border agent said, "no need, its all on the system" he simply ran our PR cards and it was all on there and i guess would be the same for passport so in effect whilst they tell you to have this stuff ready it does appear that the system can hold the information, assuming you have filled in and uploaded correctly of course.
As for 4th vaccine i think the public is nowhere near on board with this as they were with the initial shots and of course we have a question mark over the effectiveness of current vaccines on current variants. Suggesting masking in crowded spaces has always been a recommendation but how long can Canada keep this kind of thing going when places like UK and USA have moved on from this, in England for example even while the Omicron appeared to be spiking just before Christmas they did not reintroduce any more restrictions and masks and social distancing were history. They have now decided to remove the mask mandate for hospitals and medical centres too although some will be able to make their own rules. Meanwhile here in my local Walmart we still have screens in the washrooms to keep people apart. (actually maybe that's not a bad thing)

Jerseygirl

I presume you are referring to the land border. The problem lies with boarding a plane IMO. The check in agent at Newark Airport in March would not check us in until we produced the ArriveCan QR code. We had previously entered via land crossing in November 2021 using ArriveCan, therefore it should have been in the system. The fact that our PR cards had expired was overlooked…the ArriveCan seemed to be priority.

dbd33

I wonder about this, Why people choose to go to YYZ. I understand that there are people who are inadmissible to the US and they're stuck, but everyone else could fly from where they are to a US hub and on to their destination. Saskatoon, Chicago, Halifax, perhaps. People who choose to go through Toronto have signed up for a couple of nights of sleeping on the floor, confusion about their flights, long queues, lost luggage, and staff shouting at them in pigeon English. I would not have guessed that many people would enjoy that, so why do they do it to themselves?

dbd33

Walmart shoppers, of course, deserve life in the Toronto airport.

Gozit

It's 2021 2022, I don't think the expectation to have an electronic device to complete a form is any different then the expectation 30-40 years ago that one would have a pen and postage stamps available to fill out a form and have it mailed off to the nearest embassy to be processed.

So 2 years ago you were against mandatory quarantine but now you want the government to mandate 4th shots of the vaccine and keep mandatory masking in place? I'm confused.

OrangeMango

Travelling recently, I was surprised about the lack of masks at airports, however I can only speak about the EU and Heathrow in the UK.
Yes, I disagree with quarantine, it's ridiculous. There is more community spreading anyway.
I think the 4th shot has recently been offered in Ontario, it got it in Europe.

And now Canada starts again, with random mandatory testing at airports, - another idiocy and waist of taxpayer money, I think. This means more queues at airports and more risk of getting infected again.
Interestingly international arrivals at Edmonton airport are exempt from this. Pretty sure, that KLM flight from Amsterdam is still coming in there.....

Revin Kevin

Masks have 99.9% disappeared in the UK - including at airports.

I too flew recently ( UK / Can) , once with KLM and once with Air Canada. On the KLM flights ( Dec 21) between Manchester and Calgary (via Schiphol) there was no mask requirement either way. On the more recent Air Canada flights (June 22) it was like stepping back in time full mask requirements both ways. I did wonder on that last flight about the authority of Air Canada to enforce mask wearing on a flight from Canada to a non mask mandated country like the UK?

OrangeMango

I've noticed that. I found it a bit careless on a fully crowded London tube, and people with no masks. It's a bit scary.

On the other hand, Canada is the other extreme:
https://nationalpost.com/news/world/...-main-airports
This means, more queues, more chances getting infected, more chaos at airports, all this, whilst the virus is in the country anyway.
It's more an alibi regulation.
Oddly Edmonton, Halifax and Ottawa airports are exempt from this regulation, even though they receive international flights from Europe.
Canada's covid response towards travel has shocked me gravely. It's like I don't know the country anymore.

Twitcher1958

I’ve entered Canada four times this year, three flights and once by road. There’s no problem arriving at the Canadian airport - because as others have said, it’s linked to your passport and they don’t need to see your ArriveCAN app. We found in the UK that they still insisted on seeing your QR code/receipt at the departure gate, even though we weren’t able to get our boarding pass without it. Seemed an unnecessary step at last minute and certainly added to time to process passengers.
I entered by road in February and I think at that time we still had to show the ArriveCAN app but think that’s changed since.

sharkus

I’m fairly sure you still have to use ArriveCAN to enter by land. Some friends did travel from US to Canda by land at the weekend so I’ll ask them if they used it