The federal government said on Thursday that mandatory vaccination for truckers arriving in Canada from the United States would come into effect on Saturday as scheduled, hours after the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) claimed that Canadian drivers would be exempt from this new measure.
In a statement released Thursday, federal Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos, along with the Ministers of Transport and Public Safety, said the statement issued Wednesday evening by the CBSA was “provided in error” and that Canadian truckers had to be vaccinated if they wanted to avoid having to go into quarantine and provide a molecular test result when they arrived in the country starting this weekend.
Ministers said U.S. truck drivers who have not been vaccinated will be turned away at the border, as the United States prepares to impose similar restrictions on Canadian truckers on January 22.
Government officials offered no explanation for incorrect information emailed to the media about 20 hours earlier.
The Canadian Trucking Alliance and the American Trucking Association say up to 26,000 of the 160,000 drivers who regularly make cross-border trips will be sidelined due to the vaccination requirement, adding bottlenecks to strangulation and risk driving up the prices of goods transported, ranging from food to medical devices.
Federal Conservatives as well as trade groups representing oil, manufacturing and exporting companies this week called on Ottawa to extend the Jan. 15 deadline, which was announced in mid-November.
Concern among manufacturers
“The federal government’s about-face on trucking worries us, because this decision will inevitably weaken the supply chains, already greatly disrupted by the pandemic,” said Véronique Proulx, CEO of Manufacturiers et Exportateurs du Québec. “Let’s be clear, we strongly encourage the vaccination of Canadians. However, it must be recognized that up to 40% of goods will no longer be able to cross the border overnight, without the government having planned a contingency plan. The manufacturing sector relies heavily on trade with the United States and will be hit hard by government improvisation. »
With Duty