Returning from short trips into the U.S. without ArriveCAN app lands Manitobans 14-day quarantines

Some Manitobans are finding out the hard way about requirements to re-enter Canada after short trips into the U.S.

Some Manitobans are finding out the hard way about requirements to re-enter Canada after short trips into the U.S.

A 73-year-old Winnipeg man who went to Pembina, N.D. Tuesday to pick up a parcel is in day three of a mandatory quarantine, despite being fully vaccinated and carrying all the information he thought was required to return to Canada.

“It was a nightmare,” the man, who asked not to be named, said in an interview. “I got a 14-day quarantine.”

On Nov. 30, the rules changed to allow fully vaccinated Canadians who re-enter the country within 72 hours to return without providing a negative PCR test. However, travellers are required to submit mandatory information including proof of vaccination in the ArriveCAN app before arriving in Canada.

People who don’t won’t be eligible for the exemption may face delays at the border for public health questioning and may be subject to fines or enforcement action.

The man said he spent about 20 minutes in the U.S. fetching the parcel. When he tried getting back into Canada, the man said a border officer told him he needed to have the ArriveCAN app downloaded on his cell phone.

The man said the agent let him return to the U.S. to download and fill out the app, which he did. When he tried getting back into Canada a second time, he said a different border officer told him information surrounding his quarantine plan was incomplete.