Quarantine Hotel List Still ‘Incomplete’ On Last Business Day Before Mandatory Stays Required

Just days before the federal government's mandatory hotel quarantine policy for incoming air pax is set to come into effect, Ottawa Thursday issued only a partial list of participating hotels.

According to the government website the list of hotels “is incomplete and will be finalized in the coming days.”

As of Monday, 22FEB, air passengers entering the country will be required to take a COVID-19 PCR test and quarantine in a hotel, at their expense, for up to three days while they await results. Those testing negative would continue home to spend the rest of their 14-day mandatory quarantine and also take a second PCR test 10 days in.

Before their flights to Canada, arriving travellers are expected to reserve their hotels themselves - and they can only be made by phone through American Express Global Business Travel.

The situation leaves some observers expecting a rough launch of the mandatory program on Monday.

“Confusion will reign I expect,” Jill Wykes, the Editor of Snowbird Advisor told Open Jaw. “I am certain there will be travellers arriving who have not booked their hotels. It is very unclear as to whether airlines are supposed to ask for this like the COVID test before allowing travellers to board. There are supposed to be some exemptions but you cannot find them anywhere on Canada.ca and government PR people do not have answers.”

She believes the program would have been “unnecessary” if “the government would have invested in properly monitoring quarantines at home and testing. Add to that the fact that travel is responsible for less than two per cent of cases, and the variants are already circulating within Canada … This seems to have been a plan to discourage spring break travel, nothing more.”

Costs of the hotels will vary depending on the location, but government officials have indicated that a quarantine stay could potentially cost $2,000 per person.

The price includes not just the room, but also meals, security, transportation to the hotel and added infection prevention and control measures.

This is the list of participating hotels as of the morning of Friday 19FEB.

Calgary International Airport (YYC)