COVID-19: ArriveCAN App Confusion Puts Southern Alberta Couple Under Quarantine | The Canadian News

Donna and Abraham Wolvers of Magrath, Alta. They are preparing for an unexpected two-week quarantine.

“We were totally shocked,” Donna said.

The couple returned from Montana Thursday, taking advantage of the 72-hour travel window.

The wolves, who have been fully vaccinated, including their booster shots, had their vaccination documents printed along with their passports and thought they were safe. But they encountered a problem when they returned home.

“The first thing he asked was ours ArriveCAN application. We didn’t have that. We didn’t know what it was either, ”Abraham said.

Canada Border Services requires that all travelers entering Canada by air, land, rail or sea have ArriveCAN. The couple said they are not tech savvy and didn’t get much help at the border.

“He was not explaining anything to us, he gave us these boxes and two papers and said that you are in quarantine for 14 days,” added Donna.

His compatriot from South Albertan, Gary Stanford, was also unaware of the app, but had the opportunity to go around the border and download what he needed to avoid having to self-quarantine. He quickly tried using what he thought was the correct web version of ArriveCAN, but ended up on a non-governmental web page.

“It turned out that they were all fraudulent, all the ArriveCANs on the websites, they were all fraudulent, so I had to cancel my credit card when we found out,” Stanford added.

Both the app and the web version of ArriveCAN are free. The web version does not work in Internet Explorer, so you must download a different browser.

Both the Wolvers and Stanford said that further communication from the government would have been helpful, adding that it is important to do your research if you plan to go south.

“It’s much easier to travel to the states than it is to get home,” Stanford added.