Canada’s quarantine hotel rules still murky two weeks after being announced

Nearly two weeks later and the rules around Canada's proposed quarantine hotels are as, if not more murky than before.

On January 29, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Canadian air travellers returning home from non-essential trips abroad would have to be swabbed for COVID-19 upon landing and await results at a government-sponsored hotel.

At the time, the government pegged that hotel stay as costing travellers an extra three days and $2,000 a person.

Since then, the application window for hotels looking to join the list of approved quarantine sites has come and gone but the federal government has yet to reveal many, if any, more details about the new rules.

“The real concern has to deal with how the government is going to be defining 'non-essential travel',” said Cara Zwibel, Director of the Fundamental Freedoms Program at the Canadian Civil Liberties Association.

The CCLA says it also has concerns about Canadians who have been abroad since well before the new rules were announced as well as for Canadians who may not be able to afford a minimum three-night, $2,000 hotel stay.

“We need to understand how this is going to affect people who are not taking leisurely vacations but who might be leaving the country to get medical care, to care for a loved-one, students who are studying out of the country and for whom a $2,000 hotel bill will be a real deterrent to returning home,” said Zwibel.

The government, meantime, is still working out the details for itself. Wednesday marked the final day for hotels meeting certain criteria like distance from one of four international airports still accepting flights from abroad to apply to be one of the federally-sponsored quarantine sites.

“I think the government made an announcement in part to deter people,” said Zwibel. “The main goal has been to tell people don't travel if you don't have to, there might be new rules that are in place, they could come in at any time, they might be in place before you get back.”

“But we've had this pattern, not just with the federal government but many provincial and territorial governments as well,” she said. “We get an announcement at a press conference about these rules that are going to change but then we don't actually get to see the rules for some time.”

Zwibel said the murkiness causes unnecessary confusion and stress for people who have traveled for essential reasons or before the announcement was made and now are unsure if they will be caught up by the new rules when they return.

“If the quarantine aspect is so vital, surely there will need to be some exceptions made in terms of the fees and waivers will have to be granted for people who really can't afford to do this,” she said.

The CCLA, meantime, also arguing any restrictions on Canadians' mobility rights need to be reasonable especially if that person has an appropriate plan to quarantine at home, suggesting a de facto $2,000 fine and forced three-day hotel stay may be too far.

“As much as we think it's a bad idea for people to be going on vacation, the truth is that if someone does go away and is prepared to take the necessary precautions when they return, there may not be a good justification for restricting their travel,” said Zwibel.

Zwibel also pointed to people who are going away on vacation and getting vaccinated while abroad.

“Now, that doesn't necessarily help us in terms of curbing the spread, we don't yet know whether the vaccine does that, but it does mean that person is unlikely to get sick and use hospital resources when they return,” said Zwibel. “So, in that case, there may not be a great justification for saying that person can't [quarantine at home] if they will self-isolate, if they will take the precautions that are necessary to prevent further spread.”