Data supplied by the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) shows Canadians who did not adhere to federal COVID-19 rules when arriving in the country accumulated almost $15 million in fines, the majority of which have not been paid..Travel restrictions, including providing proof of a negative test for COVID-19, mandatory hotel quarantine and uploading personal health information to the ArriveCan app were implemented by the federal government at the beginning of the pandemic, and it was only in October that the restrictions were lifted..The rules caused a great deal of misunderstanding and frustration among travellers, as well as those in the tourism and travel industries who saw a decline in business..The data released by PHAC includes the Atlantic provinces, Ontario, Manitoba and British Columbia, but not from Saskatchewan, Alberta or the territories, jurisdictions that did not adopt legislation required to enforce the regulations and issue fines..Quebec was also excluded because fines were issued by provincial prosecutors..In 2022, between January and August (the most recent data from PHAC) 3,614 tickets were issued, with fines varying from $825 and $5,000, depending on the violation or violations of the rules, for a total of $14.8 million..Ontario, the largest province by population and home to Pearson International Airport, Canada’s largest, recorded the most tickets issued with 2,672 tickets written in the eight-month period..Next highest was BC with 709, Manitoba with 210, 21 in New Brunswick and two in Nova Scotia. No tickets were issued in Newfoundland and Labrador or Prince Edward Island..With data from September and October still being tabulated by PHAC, the number of tickets and the amount of the fines will likely increase..In total, almost 19,000 tickets were issued since COVID-19 arrived in 2020, according to the PHAC website..The agency does not track whether any of fines were paid..In a written statement, Tammy Jarbeau, a spokeswoman for Health Canada, said, "Once issued, ticket payments and challenges are processed by provincial court systems in the relevant jurisdictions." .The most common federal COVID-19 offence in 2022 was travellers entering the country without a pre-arrival test, resulting in 1,634 tickets, according to PHAC. .Other common offences included refusing to answer questions from a public health officer and failing to complete arrival testing..Overall, people driving into the country racked up more violations than those who flew in.
