The federal government announced Friday all travellers arriving in Canada by land, as of Monday, with some exceptions, will be required to provide proof of a negative COVID-19 molecular test result taken in the United States within 72 hours before arrival, or a positive test taken 14 to 90 days before arrival.
As of Monday, Feb. 22, travellers entering Canada by land will be required to take a COVID-19 molecular test on arrival as well as toward the end of a 14-day quarantine.
Molecular tests usually consist of a nasal swab (or sometimes, a throat swab).
Officials on Friday were working out what that means for Sault, Ont. residents who commute daily to Lake Superior State University (LSSU) for educational purposes, others who commute to Sault, Mich. for work and others, such as truckers, who cross daily or often.
“Essential workers such as truckers, railway employees and emergency service providers will be exempt from the 72-hour pre-arrival testing. The new measures are meant for non-exempted travellers. There will be some exemptions from these new measures. Further information on exemptions will be available in the coming days,” replied Anna Maddison, Health Canada spokesperson, in an email to SooToday Friday.
As for Canadian Lake State students, details remained sketchy Friday afternoon.
A federal government webpage stated, as far as cross-border students who travel regularly or daily are concerned, “you will likely be exempt from quarantine upon arrival in Canada if your province or territory is accepting cross-border students.”
However, the site states only British Columbia is accepting cross-border students.
“We offer (COVID-19) testing to any enrolled student, faculty or staff member at our health care center and through regularly scheduled sampling clinics. While it is not mandatory it is strongly encouraged,” wrote Fred Pierce, LSSU Dean of Admissions and Marketing in an email to SooToday received this week.
“Lake State currently has 38 students enrolled from Ontario. We have 10 in campus housing, which means 28 commuters,” Pierce wrote.
By far, Lake State’s Kinesiology program was the favourite major of those commuters, with 13 students enrolled, followed by Fire Science and Biology.
“We remain largely (85 per cent) in face-to-face modality and continue to have one of the lowest positivity rates in the U.S.,” Pierce stated.
Canada’s federal government also stipulates “to be able to enter Canada (to study), you must have a study permit and be attending a Designated Learning Institution (DLI) with a COVID-19 readiness plan approved by its province or territory.”
Algoma University and Sault College are on that list of DLIs.
In addition, it was announced Friday all travellers arriving to Canada by air, as of Monday, Feb. 22, with some exceptions, will be required to take a COVID-19 test when they arrive in Canada before exiting the airport, and another toward the end of a 14-day quarantine period.
With some limited exceptions, air travellers will also be required to reserve, prior to departure to Canada, a three-night stay in a government-authorized hotel.
Travellers were able to book their government-authorized stay starting Feb. 18.
Also, as of Monday, Feb. 22, all travellers arriving by land or air will be required to submit their travel and contact information, including a suitable quarantine plan, electronically via ArriveCAN before crossing the border or boarding a flight.
Before Friday’s announcement, between March 22, 2020 and Jan. 28, 2021, a total of 31,749 foreign nationals were denied entry into Canada from the U.S., their purpose of travel deemed to be ‘discretionary’ by Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) officers.
26,640 were U.S citizens and 4,109 were citizens of other countries arriving from the U.S., stated Mark Stuart, CBSA spokesperson.
Stuart wrote numbers regarding how many were turned away at the border for any specific port of entry, such as Sault Ste. Marie, are not released "for operational and security reasons."
Examples of discretionary or optional travel include hikes across the border, social events such as birthday parties or weddings, boating across the border, camping, picking up a pet, visiting or checking on a seasonal residence.
