ArriveCan technical issues violated Charter rights, alleges new class-action application

ArriveCan's 'arbitrary, inaccurate, incorrect and unreliable results' interfered with Canadians' Charter rights, a class-action application alleges.

ArriveCan's "arbitrary, inaccurate, incorrect and unreliable results" interfered with Canadians' Charter rights, a class-action application alleges.

Canadian firm Consumer Law Group says it filed a statement of claim earlier this week in Federal Court against the attorney general.

The federal government launched ArriveCan in April 2020 to track health and contact information for people entering Canada during the pandemic, and to digitize customs and immigration declarations.

The application alleges technical problems with the app led to unnecessary directives to fully vaccinated travellers requiring them to quarantine after entering the country.

It demands the government declare it infringed Charter rights of liberty and security of the person and freedom from arbitrary detention or imprisonment. It would also require the government compensate class members for lost wages or cancelled trips.

"If you were forced to quarantine and you were exempt … you should not have been kept in your house," said Consumer Law Group lawyer Jeff Orenstein in a phone interview with CTVNews.ca. He says more than 2,000 people have already contacted his office asking about the class action.

The two lead plaintiffs for the suit are Quebec residents E. Sabbag and D. Rossner who, during a trip to New York state in May 2022, were allegedly unable to access ArriveCan prior to their return.