Trudeau government sent over 28,000 people to quarantine hotels: report

Cabinet to date has not detailed the cost of the program, though Supplementary Estimates tabled in Parliament put the expense of border measures at $225,556,596. Taxpayers paid the full cost of transport, room, board and medical care for hotel stay until February 22, when cabinet charged costs directly to travellers under the Quarantine Act, according to Blacklocks. The COVID-19 hotel program ends on August 9.

The Trudeau Liberals announced Monday that fully vaccinated Americans can resume non-essential travel into Canada beginning August 9, permitting they received two doses of approved COVID-19 vaccines two weeks before travel. They will not have to quarantine upon arrival.

The border was mutually shut down to non-essential travel on March 21, 2020, with travel restrictions renewed monthly. Cabinet also waived a rule that non-essential travel bans remain in place until 75 percent of Canadians are fully vaccinated, as part of a series of partial rollbacks on travel restrictions.

"We have made the best decisions we can base on the scientific advice we have that we think are in the best interests of Canadians," Privy Council President Dominic LeBlanc said Tuesday.

"Other countries have done the same thing." He adds: "We recognize every country has its sovereign responsibility to make the best decisions it can in the interests of protecting their populations."

The public safety department in a June 22 briefing note Impact Of Border Measures And Statistics said from the outbreak of the pandemic a total of 28,305 drivers and air passengers were referred to the Public Health Agency for "not having suitable accommodation to quarantine."

Another 12,990 border crossers were referred to the Agency for failing to prove they'd tested COVID-free prior to arrival. The briefing note did not explain if they were also housed in quarantine hotels.

Quarantine measures saw 44,992 foreign drivers and air passengers denied entry to Canada. No Canadian was denied re-entry. Impact Of Border Measures said in the first fifteen months of the pandemic travel nationwide fell 88 percent compared to pre-COVID levels. In other figures:

• The number of US air travellers declined 97 percent
• The number of international air travellers from other countries fell 93 percent
• "Highway volumes" declined 83 percent
• The number of private boaters decreased 97 percent
• Commercial truck traffic increased one percent

"The quarantine is in place for a very important purpose," Health Minister Patricia Hajdu told reporters. "It allows for the clearing of a test for a person to be tested for COVID-19, and for Canada to receive the results of that test prior to any onward travel."

The Public Health Agency in a submission to the Commons health committee said costs of the quarantine hotel program went beyond accommodation expenses. "We provide security," testified Iain Stewart, president of the Agency.

"We provide medical backstops for our designated quarantine facilities," said Stewart.

"We also have costs related to the reception at airports and points of entry. That item is a number. It's a bucket of things that are being covered," concluding, "That money does not including funding for legal fees," said Stewart.