Transport Canada has fined two passengers thousands of dollars after discovering their pre-departure COVID-19 tests were fraudulent.
The first passenger was fined $6,500 for presenting an altered COVID-19 test and knowingly boarding a flight from the Dominican Republic to Toronto on 08FEB this year. In this case, the passenger also made a false declaration to the air carrier about their health status.
The second passenger was fined $2,500 for presenting an altered COVID-19 test and knowingly boarding a flight from the United States to Toronto on 03APR.
Travellers must obtain a negative result on a COVID-19 molecular test within 72 hours of boarding any flight inbound to Canada or a proof of a positive test result within at least 14 days and no more than 90 days prior to arrival. They must present the results to the air crew prior to boarding their flight. Any passenger failing to comply could be subject to fines of up to $5,000 per violation.
Those two recent announcement of violations are in addition to others that occurred this year and were previously made public, including:
Two passengers on a flight to Canada from Mexico on 23JAN who were fined $10,000 and $7,000 respectively for presenting a false or misleading COVID-19 test and for making a false declaration about their health status.
One passenger on a flight to Canada from Mexico on 18JAN who was fined $1,000 for failing to provide the air carrier with evidence that they received a negative result for a COVID-19 molecular test that was performed on a specimen collected no more than 72 hours before the aircraft's initial scheduled departure time.
One passenger on a flight to Canada from Germany on 25FEB who was fined $2,500 for failing to respect a mandatory quarantine order and for making a false declaration about their health status.
Transport Canada says over 99% of travellers arriving by air have been compliant or exempt from the pre-board testing requirements.
In the same statement, it revealed that 29,485 pax arrived in Canada by air between 19APR and 25APR this year. That’s down 96 per cent from the same period in 2019.
Air carriers who have reason to believe that a passenger has provided a document that is likely to be false or misleading must report the incident to Transport Canada.
When there are questions about the validity of a traveller’s test, Canada Border Services refers travellers to the Public Health Agency of Canada for assessment. If the agency determines the pax provided a false or misleading test result or statement, it refers the matter to Transport Canada.
