News release
October 2, 2020—Ottawa—Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Minister Marco E. L. Mendicino, Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness Minister Bill Blair and Health Minister Patty Hajdu today announced that, in addition to the border restrictions that remain in place, the Government of Canada is further strengthening the public health presence at the border and enhancing quarantine monitoring. The government is also increasing the use of digital forms and processes to allow critical information to be shared more quickly with provinces and territories. In addition, a process is being introduced to support enhanced family reunification, including those in long-term exclusive relationships, international students and entry for compassionate reasons.
Key Points
- the presence of federal public health officers at the border will be increased over the coming months to cover 36 ports of entry that account for 90% of all traffic into Canada during normal operations
- 90 public health officials will be deployed across the country by the end of the fiscal year
- the government is also strengthening compliance and enforcement efforts by increasing screening officers at call centres
- These calls are followed up by law enforcement if individual cannot be reached, or if a traveller is suspected of not complying with quarantine requirements
With these robust protections in place, processes are being introduced to support greater family reunification, entry for compassionate reasons, and the safe and gradual entry of some international students. More specifically, these processes will provide for the entry of
- certain extended family members of Canadian citizens and Canadian permanent residents, including those in an exclusive dating relationship of at least 1 year and their dependent children, as well as adult children, grandchildren, siblings and grandparents
- foreign nationals for compassionate reasons in specific circumstances, such as life-threatening illness, critical injury or death, with potential limited release from quarantine
- international students, starting October 20, 2020, if they will be attending a designated learning institution that has been identified by their provincial or territorial government as having a COVID‑19 readiness plan in place
More information here >>
