Ontario's Doug Ford Pushing Trudeau to Expand Hotel Quarantine to Land Crossings

Ontario’s Doug Ford Pushing Trudeau to Expand Hotel Quarantine to Land Crossings

April 30, 2021 Jim Byers

Ontario Premier Doug Ford is asking Ottawa to expand its controversial hotel quarantine plan to include visitors coming into the province by land.

In a letter to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau obtained by the CBC, Ford said he’s worried about COVID-19 variants making their way into Ontario via both air passengers and visitors using land crossings.

Current federal laws require passengers who fly into Canada to present a negative test taken within 72 hours of their departure and be tested again upon arrival. They then must undergo a mandatory hotel quarantine for up to three days, followed by 11 or more days of quarantine at home or a private facility, which includes a home test on the eighth day.

Those crossing by land also have to present a negative test, and they get tested again upon their entry into Canada, after which they’re supposed to quarantine for 14 days. They also are required to take an at-home test eight days into quarantine.

Some visitors and Canadians have been exploiting the policy differences by flying into U.S. airports and then crossing into Canada by land, thus avoiding the costly and inconvenient hotel quarantine.

“We are requesting the implementation of a mandatory three-day hotel quarantine in federally designated hotels at the highest traffic crossings including those in Niagara, Windsor, Sarnia, and Brockville,” Ontario Deputy Premier Christine Elliott and Solicitor General Sylvia Jones said in the letter to the Liberal government in Ottawa.

Some of these crossings, including the Rainbow Bridge in Niagara Falls, are located in close proximity to other crossings. It is important that all travelers in these regions are met with the same quarantine requirement, to ensure that all points of entry are protected.”

Speaking to the media today (April 30), Trudeau said he would “continue to work with the province.” But he also seemed to take umbrage with what Ford called “massive loopholes” in the federal rules for entry into Canada.

Trudeau said 95% travel to Canada has been suspended for more than a year. The only people allowed over the border are Canadian citizens and permanent residents, essential workers and visitors who meet “a limited number” of exceptions, he said.