Despite most federal vaccine mandates being lifted across Canada, truckers transporting food are still being turned back at the Canada-US border.."They've opened up the House of Commons and airports to the unvaccinated, but they're not going to let truckers bring food into the country. That doesn't make sense," said Janet Krayden, a consultant at Crystal Clear Connections who works with agri-food farmers and processors.."These restrictions are punishing farmers who can't afford to ship their goods, and it's punishing consumers at the grocery store with inflation. Although price of gas and diesel very high, The farmers are reporting that these restrictions are the number one cause of inflation for transportation, right now.".Krayden said during the beginning of the pandemic, there was a border exemption for agri-food shippers, because it was recognized as a critical part of Canada's infrastructure..But Krayden said that exemption for agri-food has "essentially been lost," due to various restrictions that "are superseding the federal government's own public safety regulations on agri-food being essential.".One of those restrictions is that unvaccinated foreign nationals, many of whom are truckers, continue to be prohibited from entering Canada under the Minimizing the Risk of Exposure to COVID-19 in Canada Order..A spokesperson for the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) told the Western Standard that if an unvaccinated foreign national truck driver is denied entry into the country, their goods may still be imported into Canada if the conveyance operator makes "suitable arrangements" for a new driver to import them.."This means that if the driver is prohibited entry and is turned back to the United States, the CBSA will not prevent a new driver from picking up the same goods and returning to the border to import them," they said..Unvaccinated Canadian truck drivers entering Canada also still need to meet requirements for pre-entry, arrival and Day-8 testing, as well as quarantine requirements. The spokesperson said drivers who are required to quarantine are still able to drive to their destinations and be considered "in quarantine." But once drivers deliver their load to their final destination, they are "required to continue to quarantine at a fixed location.".The policy prohibiting unvaccinated foreign national truck drivers from entering Canada has been in place since January 15, 2022. The CBSA claims the United States has an identical policy for truck drivers in place, But Krayden said this is not true..“The US official website explains there is no proof of vaccination for American citizens, and only a 5-day quarantine. This is very different than the 14 days quarantine for the unvaccinated in Canada," she said..“An American driver importing food and supplies, if allowed to enter Canada, would have no problem going back to the United States according to their rules. Stopping entry of food imports and supplies from coming in is the only thing in common at this point.”.Krayden said the border restrictions have increased trucking rates by 30% to 50% over the last few months, which many farmers have said is leading to price gouging. "That is just one more cost they have to absorb with all the exorbitant inflation on their inputs," she said..The Canadian government recently announced it is extending its border restrictions until September 30. But Krayden says she wants to see a national exemption for truckers implemented "immediately."."The farms cannot last until September 30. We have to get the unvaccinated to help support our supply chains, because the trucking labour shortages is massive. It's just as big as the labour shortage in agriculture, and we have to keep our food system open.".Sylvian Charlebois, professor of management and food security at the School of Public Administration, Dalhousie University in Halifax, said the policy prohibiting foreign national truck drivers from entering Canada "gives an excuse for the supply chains to be more costly."."It certainly increases the chances of transportation costs going up further, as you have fewer options to move products around. You've basically put several independent truckers on the sidelines, and independent truckers are the people we need right now."."More and more mandates are being lifted and now we're seeing fewer restrictions for people travelling," Charlebois said. "Yet we don't appear to consider truckers transporting agricultural products or livestock as essential. I think they should."
