+1(514) 937-9445 or Toll-free (Canada & US) +1 (888) 947-9445

Soft landing during COVID-19 situation

vampire88

Newbie
Apr 15, 2020
4
1
Hello everyone, I'm in the same situation but I'm wondering about the duration of the quarantine.
I will land on April 5 and return to my home country on April 6, so the next day.
I'm going to sleep one night in a hotel near the airport.
I'm wondering about the quarantine of 14 days since we will only stay one night. Is this a problem?
Hi,
I am curious to know what your experience is with this landing experience?
 

Buletruck

VIP Member
May 18, 2015
6,875
2,706
As of midnight tonight, if CBSA aren’t satusfied you have an adequate plan to quarantine you will be transported to a hotel to spend the mandatory quarantine. No stopping, no going out. CBSA has already indicated they will not do soft landings at this time.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Immigration services
Travel for the purpose of obtaining immigration services is non-essential. If you are in Canada, and are seeking to travel to the border in order to make an application for a work permit, study permit or permanent residence, you are asked to consider federal and provincial guidelines for self-isolation and social distancing. Do not travel to the border for these services until further notice. If you are currently in Canada as a visitor, student or worker, you can apply online to IRCC to extend your temporary resident status. By doing so, you can continue to stay, study or work in Canada while your application is being processed. This is referred to as implied status, and as long as you apply before your current document expires, your current immigration authorizations and conditions remain unchanged. In-Canada services are available through Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada.
https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/travel-voyage/settle-setablir-eng.html

https://www.google.ca/amp/s/www.cbc.ca/amp/1.5531717
 

Beltex

Star Member
Jan 24, 2017
189
45
Category........
PNP
Visa Office......
London UK
So you arrive at the airport / land crossing and Canada thinks that you may potentially have Corvid19- so do they;

1) Let you complete some paperwork and leave the country immediately.

2) Let you complete some paperwork then let you drive to a city, town or village where you will rent a room and hope that you play ball and don't step outside for a full 2 weeks.

Bizarre!
 
  • Like
Reactions: andreiger

Copingwithlife

VIP Member
Jul 29, 2018
4,456
2,243
Earth
So you arrive at the airport / land crossing and Canada thinks that you may potentially have Corvid19- so do they;

1) Let you complete some paperwork and leave the country immediately.

2) Let you complete some paperwork then let you drive to a city, town or village where you will rent a room and hope that you play ball and don't step outside for a full 2 weeks.

Bizarre!
1- No
2-No
 

Bs65

VIP Member
Mar 22, 2016
13,187
2,420
So you arrive at the airport / land crossing and Canada thinks that you may potentially have Corvid19- so do they;

1) Let you complete some paperwork and leave the country immediately.

2) Let you complete some paperwork then let you drive to a city, town or village where you will rent a room and hope that you play ball and don't step outside for a full 2 weeks.

Bizarre!
Guess the penalties are bizarre then as well if you step outside or do not comply given this is obviously all pretty serious. Doesnt matter if you enter Canada for a single minute you still enter the country and nobody knows whether someone has COVID so the rules apply to everyone. Sure policing this would always be a challenge but people are expected to take responsibility for their health and all the potential people they may infect.

As for (1)then if that happened you could imagine it being recorded as an entry refusal, not even a voluntary one so not something to have on immigration history given should not have travelled in first place if any doubt about symptoms

Violating any instructions provided to you when you entered Canada is an offence under the Quarantine Act and could lead to up to:


  • 6 months in prison and/or
  • $750,000 in fines

Further, a person who causes a risk of imminent death or serious bodily harm to another person while wilfully or recklessly contravening this act or the regulations could be liable for:


  • a fine of up to $1,000,000 or
  • imprisonment of up to 3 years or
  • both
 
Last edited:

Beltex

Star Member
Jan 24, 2017
189
45
Category........
PNP
Visa Office......
London UK
Guess the penalties are bizarre then as well if you step outside or do not comply given this is obviously all pretty serious. Doesnt matter if you enter Canada for a single minute you still enter the country and nobody knows whether someone has COVID so the rules apply to everyone. Sure policing this would always be a challenge but people are expected to take responsibility for their health and all the potential people they may infect.

As for (1)then if that happened you could imagine it being recorded as an entry refusal, not even a voluntary one so not something to have on immigration history given should not have travelled in first place if any doubt about symptoms

Violating any instructions provided to you when you entered Canada is an offence under the Quarantine Act and could lead to up to:


  • 6 months in prison and/or
  • $750,000 in fines

Further, a person who causes a risk of imminent death or serious bodily harm to another person while wilfully or recklessly contravening this act or the regulations could be liable for:


  • a fine of up to $1,000,000 or
  • imprisonment of up to 3 years or
  • both
BS65 I respect your immense knowledge displayed on this forum but I don't get your answer. I am well aware of the rules - I've looked into them so you don't need to quote them. My point is the rules have clearly been made on the hoof (as you would likely expect in the circumstances) and it shows! my comments are about the lack of logic in the current rules and I was hoping to start a debate along those lines.

Under the current rules once a person has presented at the border with a COPR and has been processed they now insist that that person travels inland to their accommodation (which may be 100s of miles away) and holes up for 2 weeks. Maybe someone much smarter can tell me how this so much safer for Canadians than the same person just doing a u turn at the land border or catching the next flight home once their COPR has been processed?
 

Buletruck

VIP Member
May 18, 2015
6,875
2,706
2 is acceptable,
Actually, 2 isn’t acceptable (and does indicate a certain lack of logic). The requirement is to proceed to quarantine without stopping. If you live in Edmonton (or points further north), a trip from the border may be near impossible without some sort of stop if you are driving. It might be impossible to follow the requirement to the letter.
 

PMM

VIP Member
Jun 30, 2005
25,494
1,950
Hi

I do think it may be possible to land and fly back home on the same day without leaving the airport.
1. As soon as you pass Customs/Immigration you are in Canada. Unless you have a quarantine plan for 14 days This is mandatory, even if you have no symptoms. If you don’t have a plan, you’ll be quarantined in a facility designated by the Chief Public Health Officer of Canada.
 

canuck78

VIP Member
Jun 18, 2017
55,478
13,478
Hi



1. As soon as you pass Customs/Immigration you are in Canada. Unless you have a quarantine plan for 14 days This is mandatory, even if you have no symptoms. If you don’t have a plan, you’ll be quarantined in a facility designated by the Chief Public Health Officer of Canada.
Nobody has tried to say I am not leaving the airport and checking back in. I would assume that you may be fine since you’re leaving and not spreading anything to Canadians. I would encourage people to check before trying.
 

Buletruck

VIP Member
May 18, 2015
6,875
2,706
From CBSA website
If you are a traveller returning to Canada, you must confirm at the border that you have a suitable place to quarantine for 14 days.
And from the government of Canada website:
Upon arrival, every traveller will need to confirm that they have a suitable place to isolate or quarantine, where they will have access to basic necessities, such as food and medication. Travellers will be expected to make plans for where they will isolate or quarantine in advance of arriving to Canada. Travellers who do not have an appropriate place in which to isolate or quarantine themselves must go wto a place designated by the Chief Public Health Officer of Canada. These criteria are newly applied to asymptomatic travellers.
It’s not optional depending on whether you plan to return immediately or not. It’s a required 14 days quarantine under order of the Public Health Officer.
 

Bs65

VIP Member
Mar 22, 2016
13,187
2,420
Adding to debate, maybe repeating obvious

As above once a traveller exits immigration/customs into the arrival hall they are in Canada so must go to isolation, no option to checkin again for an immediate return flight that would not be following the Quarantine Act instruction..Sure people can still ignore the instruction but that would be irresponsible, even more so having just taken up their status as a newly landed immigrant ignoring the laws of their new country. Note the government has implied there may be random checks of people who have declared an isolation plan, how they will achieve this who knows but the threat is there

Landing and then transiting to a connecting flight seems fine given a traveller would normally remain airside for the connection but they would still need to show an isolation plan for their final destination.

One thing to note that is in the guidance link below anyone who is not a citizen or a PR will not be allowed to enter Canada if deemed to be showing any COVID symptons. Hopefully nobody will get as far a Canada in first place but people should not need reminding that just having a COPR does not make someone a PR until they are landed so if CBSA deem someone has symptons they will be refused entry and PR landing.

As for the land border option whilst a forum member has reported that after some challenging discusion with CBSA they did manage to land and immediately return anyone who attempts probably tries does so at their own risk.. Currently seems CBSA regard a soft landing via land border as non essential travel in either direction from US or from within Canada but if someone insists in coming from the US they should maybe be prepared to be prepared to be challenged for an isolation plan.

https://www.canada.ca/en/public-health/services/diseases/2019-novel-coronavirus-infection/latest-travel-health-advice.html#domestic
 

Beltex

Star Member
Jan 24, 2017
189
45
Category........
PNP
Visa Office......
London UK
I do think it may be possible to land and fly back home on the same day without leaving the airport.
According to the IRCC website landings are now by phone!

"
If we already approved your permanent resident application
Permanent residence applications approved on or before March 18, 2020
If your application was approved on or before March 18, 2020, but you haven’t travelled to Canada yet, you’re exempt from the travel restriction measures.

Landing appointments will be held by telephone, if possible
We cancelled all in-person permanent resident landing appointments until further notice. All landing appointments will be done by telephone whenever possible. Otherwise, we’ll reschedule them for later.

We’ll contact you by email to let you know when your phone appointment will be. Use the Web form if you need to update your contact information.

Approved permanent resident applicants with expired or expiring documents
If we already approved your permanent resident application but you can't travel to Canada before your documents expire, use the Web form to tell us why you can’t travel.

Once it’s possible for you to travel, use the Web form to let us know so we can tell you what to do next."