In an emailed statement sent to CTVNews.ca on Saturday, the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) said the one-time exemption would only be given to fully vaccinated travelers who had no history of non-compliance at the border. “From May 2022, temporary land border measures have been put in place for fully vaccinated eligible travelers to provide more flexibility for travelers without a history of non-compliance who may have been unaware of the requirement to submit the mandatory health information them through ArriveCAN,” CBSA senior spokeswoman Rebecca Purdy said in an email. Eligibility for the one-time exemption includes all vaccinated Canadian citizens, permanent residents and persons registered under the Indian Act entering by land. From July 29, the exemption was extended to foreigners. However, exempt travelers are still required to present proof of vaccination upon entry. After the one-time exemption, Canadian citizens, permanent residents and people registered under the Indian Act must provide the required documents through the application or face quarantine, testing or fines of up to $5,000. Foreign nationals will be prohibited from entering the country. While the new measures have not been listed on the CBSA’s travel requirements website, the CBSA says over 300,000 travelers have already been granted a one-time exemption. “We can tell you that from May 24 to August 4, 2022, of the 5,086,187 land border travelers eligible for entry, the one-time exemption was used 308,800 times,” Purdy said. Amid the updated border measures, calls continue to scrap the ArriveCan app from travelers and tech experts over privacy concerns. In July, the app faced its most recent backlash after a bug mistakenly sent some people into quarantine.
