The Trudeau government is maintaining the mandatory vaccination deadline for truckers crossing the Canada-US border, contradicting the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), which released “information” that was “erroneous”.
Posted at 4:48 p.m.
In a joint statement issued Thursday afternoon, the Ministers of Health Jean-Yves Duclos, Transport Omar Alghabra and the Minister of Public Security, Marco EL Mendicino, wanted to set the record straight.
Thus, from Saturday, drivers who are not fully inoculated or who have only received a single dose of the vaccine will have to place themselves in quarantine when returning to the country, as the Public Health Agency had announced.
“Let’s be clear: this has not changed,” underline the three ministers.
This is a 180 degree turn in relation to the information disseminated the day before by the Agency, which had confirmed, in an e-mail to The Press, that these requirements would not apply. This decision would have provided a slight reprieve for the industry, since requirements must come into force in the United States as of January 22.
Supporters of vaccination, the trucking industry and the business community asked Ottawa to come to an agreement in Washington and wait a few more months before tightening the screws on truck drivers who have not received two doses of vaccine .
They fear a new logistical challenge that will increase pressure on supply chains, already weakened since the start of the pandemic.
According to the Quebec Trucking Association (ACQ), the vaccination rate in the industry – already affected by a labor shortage for several years – corresponds to the provincial portrait. In Quebec, 82% of the five-year-old population is fully vaccinated.
The industry estimates that there are 120,000 Canadian truckers making cross-border trips and that 10% of those would no longer be allowed to cross the border due to the new requirements. Ottawa instead puts this proportion at 5%, according to a government source who is not authorized to speak publicly.
This issue would have repercussions for both importers and exporters. According to the most recent data from the Ministère des Transports du Québec, approximately 70% of the value of trade between Québec and markets in the northeastern United States is transported by truck.