The federal government has released booking details and the names of initial quarantine hotels for Canadians who are now officially required to isolate for three days at their own expense when flying into the country. However, the government still maintains that Canadians should cancel or postpone any non-essential travel, including vacations, “for the foreseeable future,” and that foreign nationals should likewise stay away.
However, for those who do arrive at any of Canada’s four gateway cities – Toronto, Montreal, Calgary or Vancouver – a list of 14 hotels has been revealed, though more options are expected to be added “in the coming days.”
Here is the list:
Toronto –
• Alt Hotel Pearson Airport
• Fairfield Inn & Suites Toronto Airport
• Four Points by Sheraton
• Holiday Inn Toronto International Airport
• Sheraton Gateway Hotel in Toronto International Airport
Montreal –
• Aloft Montreal Airport
• Crowne Plaza Montreal Airport
• Holiday Inn Express and Suites Montreal Airport
• Montreal Airport Marriott In-Terminal
Calgary –
• Acclaim Hotel
• Calgary Airport Marriott In-Terminal Hotel
Vancouver –
• Fairmont Vancouver Airport
• Radisson Vancouver Airport
• The Westin Wall Centre, Vancouver Airport
Bookings (including payment) can be made by calling the following numbers between the hours of 8 a.m. and 11 p.m. seven days a week (after-hours calls limited to emergencies):
• 1-800-294-8253 (toll-free within North America)
• 1-613-830-2992 (collect outside of North America)
The cost of the hotels, which include room, food, transportation, security, and infection prevention and control measures, varies, but appears to be well below the $2,000 p.p. tag cited by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau when the program was announced on Jan. 29.
Nightly rates at the Alt Hotel Toronto Airport and the Sheraton Gateway Hotel at Toronto Pearson International Airport, for example, start at $339 and $319, respectively, for a single person being quarantined, employees answering the phone at those hotels said.
At the Calgary Airport Marriott In-Terminal Hotel, the three-day quarantine stay for one person costs $1,272 plus tax, including food for three days and $75 for security.
“The hotels are doing the billing directly and different hotels will have different rates,” says Health Minister Patty Hajdu. “The hotels are setting the price based on their own deliberations on their own expenses.”
At a press conference on Friday, the prime minister addressed issues travellers have had with reaching the phone line the Canadian government set up for them to make reservations at the designated quarantine hotels.
“Our officials are working very hard to ensure that quarantine system is in place by Monday, and we will be able to communicate with Canadians with regard to instructions on how to comply with those measures,” he said.
Many Canadians abroad made plans to return home before the hotel quarantine requirement came into effect today, said Martin Firestone, a travel insurance broker and president of Travel Secure Inc.
Other clients of Firestone’s have extended their stays abroad or are planning to drive across a land border to avoid the hotel quarantine, he said, adding, “None of them are planning on doing the hotel quarantine.”
Some exemptions apply to the hotel quarantine requirement: Seasonal agricultural workers are exempt until March 14 and patients receiving essential medical treatment abroad are not subject to the mandate.
Rights groups, including the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, have criticized the hotel quarantine policy, saying that the cost could be prohibitive for lower-income Canadians and infringe on citizens’ mobility rights.