ArriveCAN? Who knows?

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Whether or not Point Roberts residents seeking to transit B.C. to the mainland U.S. are required to use Canada’s new ArriveCAN app appears to depend on who they encounter at the border – some say you should use it while others threaten travelers with $3,000 fines for failing to use it. Most officers say nothing.

Matters aren’t much clearer in Ottawa, either. For one thing, the app appears designed for travelers who are entering Canada to stay as it asks for information regarding your purpose in entering Canada and nothing about transiting it.

As well, the Order in Council (OIC) that requires that visitors submit a recent Covid-19 test and submit their travel and quarantine plan electronically exempts all habitual residents of Point Roberts transiting B.C. from the order at the very beginning of the OIC, long before the requirements for electronic reporting are specified.

When asked in early March about the reporting requirement, Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) media spokesperson Jacqueline Callin wrote, “Travelers are required to use ArriveCAN (mobile app or web portal) to submit their contact and quarantine information in advance of arriving at the land border. ... In instances where a traveler has not submitted their contact and quarantine information prior to arrival at a land port of entry as required, border services officers will input the required information on the traveler’s behalf using a desktop application at the primary inspection lane.” (Emphasis added.)

In a March 24 email to Callan, the APB related the variation in the instructions given by CBSA personnel and pointed out that the reporting requirements presumably only applied to those persons not exempt from the OIC’s authority. At time of press, the APB has not received clarification from the CBSA media office.

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