The Conservatives continue to push the federal government to scrap the ArriveCAN app.
The online form is needed to entered Canada by airplane or by land.
Kenora MP Eric Melillo says we are the only country that still demands such as system.
“It’s something that’s been hindering our tourism industry,” states Melillo.
“I’ve been chatting with a lot of camp owners who are saying many of their regular customers don’t want to be bothered going through that burdensome process of filling the ArriveCAN app to make their way up.”
Melillo says he went to Washington last month to meet with members of the US congress and ArriveCAN was the top issue for legislators south of the border.
“Everyone I met with, the first topic they wanted to raise with me, was removing the ArriveCAN app, because that’s what they are hearing from their folks, whether it’s in Minnesota, or any of the states that frequent the Kenora area, and are responsible for driving our tourism dollars.”
The app is scheduled to remain in place until at least the end of September.
Meantime, Chambers of Commerce in communities along the Canada-US border are adding their voice for the elimination of the ArriveCAN app.
Fort Frances Chamber’s executive director Heather Johnson says it is having an impact on border numbers.
“People are just not willing to use it to come back and forth. Our tourism has gone down greatly. Our numbers of people arrive to take in the fishing and the resorts and everything Canada has to offer, that’s gone way down,” notes Johnson.
Johnson says the App’s use is also slowing down access through our land borders because of technical issues or American travellers unaware of its need.
“So even though you may have the ArriveCAN app loaded on your phone, if you’re behind two other people in front of you, it can take you an hour to cross the border when you should be through in 5 minutes.”
The chambers say wait times at land border crossings have lengthened by up to two hours since 2019 despite traffic cut in half.
Some bridge authorities place blame on the ArriveCAN app.
Johnson adds the app is the remaining COVID measure still in place.
She says with others lifted long ago, its use is no longer necessary.
“Since virtually all mandates and vaccination requirements in Canada have been lifted, and with domestic transmission of all variants being recorded, we wonder if border restrictions are worth the economic cost right now. The app is also quite inflexible in its approach. Visitors have to complete a quarantine plan even if they are only coming for a few hours and would be back home before they started to show symptoms, for instance.”
(With files from Tim Davidson and Randy Thoms)
