Travel advisory: COVID-19 border measures at International Peace Garden

#CBSA; #InternationalPeaceGarden; #Manitoba; #Covid19Screening;  

News Release

Manitoba, May 24 (Canadian-Media): The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) is reminding Manitobans that visiting the International Peace Garden is international travel and constitutes exiting Canada.

CBSA. Image Credit: Twitter handle

To gain re-entry, travellers must report to the CBSA at the Boissevain port of entry (MB Hwy 10). While Canadian citizens, permanent residents, and Registered Indians under the Indian Act continue to enter Canada by right, they are subject to COVID-19 entry screening measures and must comply with the mandatory 14-day requirement to quarantine or isolate.

At the Boissevain port of entry, border services officers will ask travellers returning from the International Peace Garden if they currently have a cough, difficulty breathing, or feel they have a fever. They will provide travellers with a Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) handout and instruct them to quarantine (if asymptomatic) or isolate (if symptomatic) for 14 days to prevent the potential spread of COVID-19. Every traveller will need to provide PHAC with their contact information and confirm that they have a suitable place to isolate or quarantine where they will have access to basic necessities, such as food and medication, and not have contact with vulnerable people. Travellers are required to wear a non-surgical mask or face covering upon entry to Canada and while in transit to isolation or quarantine, unless the mask or face covering needs to be removed for security or safety reasons. Travellers presenting symptoms consistent with COVID-19 will be referred to a PHAC staff member for further assessment.

As of March 18, 2020, Canada introduced border restrictions on foreign nationals, including U.S. citizens, for all non-essential travel to Canada. Visitors will be restricted from entering Canada unless they are both asymptomatic and crossing the border for essential reasons, such as work or study.

Quick facts

Travellers enter the International Peace Garden from either Manitoba or North Dakota without reporting to customs, but upon exiting, are required to report to the CBSA (if seeking entry to Canada) or to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (if seeking entry to the United States).

To enable faster processing and limit contact at the border, travellers returning to Canada are encouraged to use the ArriveCAN app (available on the App Store and Google Play) to provide their contact information to PHAC.

Failure to comply with the Mandatory Isolation Order and other related measures are offences under the Quarantine Act, and the maximum penalties are a fine of up to $1,000,000 and/or imprisonment for three years.

Persons who have to cross the border regularly to go to work are exempt from the requirement to quarantine, provided they do not have symptoms of COVID-19.

Questions about entry to the United States should be directed to U.S. Customs and Border Protection.