Quarantine hotels across Canada are still costing taxpayers several million each month, most with low occupancy rates..The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) confirmed the federal government has procured 36 hotels since March of 2020 as quarantine facilities across the country.."The [PHAC] has also access to two additional provincial isolation sites," said Tammy Jarbeau, senior media relations advisor for Health Canada, the PHAC, and the Government of Canada, in a statement to the Western Standard..Jarbeau confirmed that to date, PHAC is managing 17 Designated Quarantine Facilities (DQFs) and has "access to rooms in one provincial site, for a total of 1,558 rooms in 14 cities across Canada.".Those cities include Vancouver, Kelowna, Whitehorse, Calgary, Edmonton, Regina, Winnipeg, Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal, Quebec City, Fredericton, Halifax, and St-John’s.."In an effort to protect the traveller’s privacy, the exact locations of the DQFs are not disclosed," said Jarbeau..She confirmed the daily room rates per DQF range between $49 and $220 per night. Based on an average of the room rates totalling $135, the cost to Canadian taxpayers for the federal government to procure the rooms is likely close to $210,000 per night, or just under $1.5 million per week. ."Travellers arriving in Canada who do not have a suitable place to quarantine or isolate may be referred to a designated quarantine facility, upon the direction of a quarantine officer," says the Government of Canada website..Those staying in the facilities will be provided with transportation to hotels, access to 24-hour support and regular health assessments, three meals a day, Wi-Fi access and phones for outbound calls, and "regular supervised outdoor health breaks."."You’ll be required to stay in a designated quarantine facility until you receive permission to leave from a Quarantine Officer," the site reads..Individuals required to quarantine must also "remain in your assigned room unless escorted by a facility staff member" and cannot leave their rooms unless there is a medical emergency or it's been pre-authorized by a quarantine officer.."If you don't have COVID-19 symptoms, you can go outside for limited and monitored daily outdoor time. You will be escorted to and from your room for your outdoor time," says the website..Those that violate mandatory quarantine instructions could face up to $750,000 in fines and/or up to six months in prison. .'It's not been busy'.Siddhesh Dharankar, manager for The Westin Calgary Airport hotel, told the Western Standard his 247-room hotel was contracted as a quarantine facility by the federal government in June 2020 and said the contract is in place until March 2023..When asked about the occupancy rate of those using the hotel for quarantine purposes throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, Dharankar said the company's guidelines did not permit him to discuss those numbers..But Dharankar said "it's not been that busy," adding that he needed to cut staffing by 25% to 30% due to the lower occupancy numbers..Dharankar said in the beginning of the pandemic, people were usually required to stay for 14 days while in quarantine, which then dropped to 10 days. Currently, he said he hasn't seen people stay more than three days..Although it has been reported the costs associated with staying at a quarantine hotel are the travellers' to bear, Dharankar said individuals quarantining at The Westin Calgary Airport hotel are not billed for the use of their room and said the federal government pays for those rooms..The Western Standard was unable to verify what the hotel charges per night for its average room. .Ashwin Kumar, corporate director of operations at PHI Hotel Group which oversees The Westin hotel, also confirmed he was unable to discuss occupancy numbers.."We are not too sure what we can share and what we cannot," said Kumar referring to the contract between the Government of Canada and the hotel. ."Since April 2020, national room occupancy has averaged between 5% to 45%, with DQFs near Montreal and Toronto reaching capacity two times during the period," said Jarbeau in her statement from the government..In the fall of 2020, conspiracies began to spread that the government was planning to lock people up in quarantine or detention camps..READ MORE: WATCH: Pandemic conspiracy theories that turned out to be true.Trudeau and Canadian health officials, at the time, warned Canadians not to believe rumours of COVID-19 "internment camp" disinformation.. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau denies use of COVID-19 "detention centres"Prime Minister Justin Trudeau denies use of COVID-19 "detention centres" .Trudeau said at the time that "a rise in concerted efforts in misinformation and disinformation" over the last couple of years had worked to "undermine people's confidence in their institutions." He referred to people with "extremist agendas" aiming to "weaken people's confidence in our institutions and our democracy.".Health Canada confirmed it would not establish COVID-19 detention camps in a tweet dated Oct. 21, 2020..Several statements in the tweet indicated the choice of where to quarantine was up to travellers, however did confirm travellers "may be transferred to a designated #GoC quarantine facility.".Hundreds of travellers have posted about their quarantine experiences on social media sites explaining they were forced into the sites even if they had a viable place to go. Many have reported poor conditions in some of the hotels. . COVID-19 quarantine hotelsCanadians in quarantine hotels . Canadian quarantine hotelsCanadians in quarantine hotels. .After denying the government would force Canadians into quarantine facilities, Trudeau said in February 2021, the government is doing everything it can to keep people safe "in a way that is respecting people's dignity and supporting them properly." He also said he assured that "everyone is following up carefully to make sure that the conditions in which people have to do their quarantine or their testing are always adequate."
