Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino speaks to reporters after leaving a caucus meeting on Parliament Hill in Ottawa on June 22. PATRICK DOYLE/The Canadian Press
The federal government is facing increased pressure to end its ArriveCan app and increase staffing in an effort to deal with the chaos plaguing Canada’s major airports, where travelers are facing delays and canceled flights.
For weeks, many have been stranded for hours at Canadian airports, most commonly Pearson International in Toronto. Last weekend, Canadian airlines and airports experienced more flight delays than almost any other country in the world. The blame falls on staff shortages and the ArriveCan app, which was implemented for travelers to prove they are vaccinated and have a quarantine plan if they contract COVID-19.
Mark Weber, president of the Customs and Immigration Union, said he believes a lack of frontline staff, ArriveCan and an overreliance on technology in general are contributing to the delays.
“What we’re seeing specifically on the customs side is really long delays for travelers to get through customs when they come into the country,” he said.
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Mr Weber said the number of frontline staff had fallen steadily over the years. Add to that, travelers face challenges when using the ArriveCan app, “which takes a lot of travelers a long time to fill out,” he said.
Mr Weber said he would like to see the federal government hire 2,000 to 3,000 frontline workers across the country to man various ports of entry, including sea and land.
As for ArriveCan, he said, questions can be streamlined in the app to speed things up. For example, he said travelers should not enter the address of where they are staying if there is no contact tracing. The app can also be difficult to navigate for people who aren’t tech-savvy, he said.
Melissa Lantzman, a conservative transportation critic, said Canada’s airports have become an “international embarrassment.” She said that instead of continuing to blame passengers and airlines, Transport Minister Omar Algabra and the Liberal government should take responsibility.
“The Conservatives continue to call for a return to pre-pandemic travel rules and staffing levels to help alleviate the delays and disruptions we continue to see at Canada’s airports, including ending the mandatory use of the ArriveCan app.”
NDP transportation critic Taylor Bachrach said the Liberals have not acted despite having months to prepare for travel to return, and are now scrambling to hire inspection officers.
“The Government must speed up the recruitment of new staff to address shortages and ensure workers are adequately paid and treated fairly.”
Last month, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau created a new task force of cabinet ministers to improve government services, such as passport processing, and monitor the situation at airports. In a statement Monday, Co-Chair and Cabinet Secretary for Women and Gender Equality Marcy Yen said the task force had met and was working to “find solutions to address gaps in service delivery.”
Alexander Cohen, a spokesman for Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino, whose office is in charge of ArriveCan, said the app helps make travel “easier and more efficient by allowing those entering Canada to electronically submit their information before to arrive at the border’.
He said it also provides CBSA agents with tools to ensure passengers are processed quickly and safely. Mr Cohen said its use was “extremely high” and according to their statistics, 99.7% of air travelers and 94.1% of land passengers had used it successfully.
“Global travel volumes are up more than 700 percent from their lowest point during the pandemic, and airports around the world are feeling the impact. From too many flights to not enough staff, there is no single reason for these delays – but the ArriveCan app is not a major factor,” he said.
Mr. Cohen said the CBSA is making significant efforts to add resources and streamline processes to help people move, including new kiosks at major airports, including Toronto Pearson, and the hiring of more than 700 student border officers to the summer.
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Valerie Glazer, Mr Algabra’s director of communications, said in a statement that airport delays were “totally unacceptable”. She said Ottawa is meeting with airports, airlines and relevant government agencies to find solutions to address the bottlenecks. Ms. Glazer said the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority has hired more than 1,000 new airport screeners.
“We are making progress, but challenges remain, particularly for passengers facing canceled flights and problems with baggage services.”
She said Mr Algabra had met with the chief executives from the Toronto Airports Authority and WestJet last week and Air Canada’s CEO on Monday to discuss the issue.
As for the application, the opinions of travelers are divided. Payman Parseyan, an Edmonton-based oil and gas project manager, said he has traveled abroad more than 50 times since downloading ArriveCan last year. He said he was “puzzled” why Canada was still using it, given that border agents only asked to see the app on his phone about a third of the times he was returning to Canada.
“I have been relatively rarely screened and have landed back in Canada via Pearson [Toronto], Calgary, Vancouver and Montreal. It just seems to be hit or miss whether the CBSA officer will ask for the ArriveCan application or not,” he said.
“From my point of view, the app is completely useless.”
Alex Chauran, a mother of two from Port Moody, British Columbia, said she feels like one of the few supporters of the app. She crosses the land border in Surrey, British Columbia, about eight times a month to take her children to her father in Washington. She said she has found ArriveCan helpful because it simplifies the paperwork for her children, who were vaccinated in the U.S. and only have U.S. vaccine certificates, to return to Canada.
With a report from The Canadian Press
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