Canada's vaccine rule for cross-border truckers takes effect after days of mixed messages
Starting Jan. 15, 2022, unvaccinated U.S. drivers were turned back at the Canadian border, and unvaccinated Canadian drivers faced testing and quarantine.
On Jan. 15, 2022, Canada began requiring truck drivers entering the country by land to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. The federal government had announced the policy on Nov. 19, 2021.
What the rule required
Under the Public Health Agency of Canada's requirements, foreign-national drivers arriving from the U.S. who were unvaccinated or only partly vaccinated were to be directed back to the U.S.
Canadian drivers could not be refused entry. But if they were not fully vaccinated, they had to meet testing rules before entry, on arrival and on Day 8, and quarantine. Drivers who showed symptoms on arrival had to isolate for 10 days.
Fully vaccinated meant two doses of an accepted vaccine, or a mix of them, or a single dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, with the final shot at least 14 full days before entry. Drivers also had to submit their information through the ArriveCAN app.
A last-minute reversal
The rollout was confused. On Jan. 12, the Canada Border Services Agency said Canadian truckers would be exempt. The next day, Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos, Transport Minister Omar Alghabra and Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino said that information had been "provided in error" and that the rule would apply to Canadian drivers as well.
The Private Motor Truck Council of Canada's Mike Millian said traffic was moving smoothly at the borders by midday on Jan. 15. He noted that drivers who had been dispatched during the roughly 16 hours when the wrong information stood would face quarantine.
A CBSA spokeswoman reported some limited delays in the commercial stream and said staffing would be adjusted as needed.
What it meant for carriers
The larger worry was labor, not lines at the border. The Canadian Trucking Alliance estimated that up to 26,000 of the roughly 160,000 drivers who regularly crossed the border could be taken off cross-border work by the mandate.
The alliance said trucks being turned around could slow things somewhat, but its main concern was deepening an existing driver shortage. Fleets were moving unvaccinated drivers to domestic routes, which left fewer drivers available for Canada-U.S. loads.
For dispatchers, a driver's vaccination status and ArriveCAN submission became part of deciding who could take a load into Canada.