Ottawa is making plans to expand the capabilities of its ArriveCAN app, even as criticism continues to mount over the mandatory online data entry system for travelers entering the country.
Earlier this week, Transport Canada gave an update on its plans to improve the app, including adding an optional online CBSA advance declaration feature for people going to Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Billy Bishop Toronto City, Ottawa, Quebec City and Halifax. international airports.
The feature, which Transport Canada says cuts by a third the amount of time travelers spend at a Canada Border Services Agency kiosk, is currently only available to those passing through Toronto Pearson International Airport, Vancouver or Montreal-Trudeau.
“With the thousands of travelers arriving at Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal airports each day, using CBSA’s optional advance declaration has the potential to save hours in wait time,” according to the statement from Transport Canada.
Since Ottawa has no plans to end the app, here’s a rundown of how it works, why it’s in place, and who’s for and against its continued use.
Why was it launched?
Although the app was introduced early in the pandemic, the version of ArriveCAN known today was launched in July 2021, when Canada began easing public health restrictions on people entering Canada. Fully vaccinated Canadians and permanent residents crossing the border were no longer required to quarantine upon their return.
But Canada still wanted a way to take into account people’s vaccination status and the COVID-19 results of a recent test. The app allowed travelers to take a photo or upload a snapshot of their vaccine documentation to the app before going through customs.
How does it work today?
Canada has lifted most travel restrictions for fully vaccinated travelers, including the need for domestic travelers to show proof of vaccination while traveling by train or plane.
But regardless of vaccination status, all travelers arriving in Canada must submit their information to the ArriveCAN app (or the website version if they don’t have a smartphone) up to 72 hours before ‘enter Canada.
Once travelers have finished entering their information, they receive an email receipt to show a Canadian border officer upon arrival, along with their COVID-19 test results and any vaccination documents.
The application has not been without problems. Last month, the CBSA acknowledged a failure that incorrectly informed travelers to self-quarantine when in fact they did not have to, affecting about 10,200 people.
What are the possible penalties for non-compliance?
Canadians who do not provide the required information through ArriveCAN will not be denied entry, but may face a 14-day quarantine, the need for a COVID-19 test on arrival and a follow-up test eight days later.
They can also be fined $5,000 and face “additional delays at the border for questioning public health,” according to Canada’s ArriveCAN information homepage.
Is anyone exempt from using ArriveCAN?
Yes, including people who cannot access the app or website due to cognitive or physical impairments.
Instead, they can provide the information verbally at the border or by filling out a paper form.
The exemption also applies to individuals who are unable to fill out information online due to a natural disaster, censorship, lack of Internet access, or an ArriveCAN outage.
There is also some leeway for some people at land border crossings.
Starting May 24, “to allow for more flexibility,” the Canada Border Services Agency began releasing fully vaccinated Canadian land travelers with a warning the first time they neglect to fill out the application if they had no history of breach
The agency told Radio-Canada on Friday that since late July, fully vaccinated foreign travelers entering Canada by land have also been able to benefit from the one-time exemption.
The union representing border workers told CBC News last month that 30 to 40 per cent of travelers entering Canada in Windsor, Ontario, were not completing the application before they arrived.
Who is against it?
Border city mayors have said the enforcement is a barrier to tourists wanting to enter Canada and to trade.
Other politicians, including Conservative Party of Canada leadership candidates Jean Charest, Pierre Poilievre, Leslyn Lewis and Scott Aitchison, have called for the app to be scrapped, saying it creates headaches for some travelers and contributes to delays in airports
In a tweet last month, Poilievre called on Canada to “stop forcing ArriveCAN on people” and “restore sanity to our airports.” The tweet included a video, which CBC News has not verified, of an elderly person without a cell phone calling the “red tape gets mad” app while at a Toronto airport.
This is how stupid things have been done with this Liberal government.
Rules for the sake of rules. Rules that don’t make sense. Rules that leave people upset and angry.
Stop forcing ArriveCan on people. Recover sanity in our airports. https://t.co/hUepm7fhJC
—@PierrePoilievre
Lewis most recently called the app a “surveillance experiment” that must end.
This terrible experiment in monitoring the ArriveCan app must end. The government cannot continue to infringe on the rights and freedoms of Canadians. https://t.co/5rcDHOtzHi
—@LeslynLewis
Who wants the app to stay?
MP Taylor Bachrach, the New Democrats’ transportation critic, said ArriveCAN continues to play “an important role” in helping to detect new variants of international arrivals and to verify that visitors to Canada are fully vaccinated to protect the country’s health care system. country
“But the government needs to make the app work as intended so it can reduce waiting times at airports and border crossings as promised,” Bachrach said in a statement.
The government also needs to better target people who can’t use the online application for accessibility reasons, he added.
“It is totally inappropriate for customs officers to act as IT technicians while solving travelers’ technology issues,” he said.
Green Party MP Elizabeth May said she has found the app useful and easy to use during her travels.
“The recent failure, on the other hand, demonstrates a serious problem with regard to privacy violations,” he said in a statement.
What does the government have to say?
In its statement earlier this week, Transport Canada said 1,600 Canadian Air Transport Security Authority security screening officers have been hired since April, while 30 were recently added new customs inspection kiosks at Toronto Pearson International Airport.
In its own statement to CBC News, the CBSA said 99.53 percent of air travelers used ArriveCAN in the week ending July 17, according to the most recent data available.
Millions of people have used the app without problems, the spokesperson added.
“Without ArriveCAN, processing times for travelers would increase significantly, as these public health functions would have to be completed manually for each traveler by CBSA officers at the port of entry.”