The mayor of Niagara Fall is calling on the federal government to end Canada’s ArriveCAN application, as other border measures will be rolled out later this month.
As of June 20, departing domestic and international travelers will no longer have to show proof of vaccination against COVID-19 to enter Canada. However, arriving travelers will still need to enter their health information, quarantine plan and vaccination test using the ArriveCAN app.
On Wednesday, Niagara Mayor Jim Diodati, along with a committee of mayors from Canadian and American border cities, urged that maintaining the ArriveCAN app will have a “lasting” impact on the country’s tourism sector.
Throughout the pandemic, the mayors of the border cities have come together to call for a relaxation of the restrictions imposed especially on their local communities, which depend heavily on tourism as the backbone of their economies.
“We’re about to start the tourist season and it’s supposed to be a big recovery,” Diodati said.
“What’s happening now is that Americans show up on the minivan with their family at the border without knowing the ArriveCAN app,” he said. “There’s a line of cars behind them. They can’t enter the country.”
As a result, Diodati said tourists are overlooking Canada, which has a dominating effect on the country’s $ 100 billion industry.
Specifically, the mayor said older people struggling with digital technology have called him out expressing that they feel discriminated against by the app-based platform.
“The answer they get is for your children and grandchildren to do it for you. Anyone who has been through this will realize that it is not very reasonable,” Diodati said.
The mayor of Niagara said he has spoken with Canada’s federal public safety minister on the issue and understands that the decision comes “from above.”
“If you want to leave them at the airports for the time being, so be it, but … most of the process happens to be at the land border crossings.”
“Why don’t we start here?”
Transport Canada acknowledged that persistent restrictions will be addressed in a timely manner.
“We recognize that there is still work to be done,” the government said in a statement on Friday.
“We will continue to work with all orders from governments and partners to reduce delays in the travel system.”