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After an analysis of mobile phone data revealed more than a million Canadians – the majority of whom were white and wealthy – travelled overnight during the holiday season, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said anyone with a trip still planned should “cancel it.”
Federal public health guidance has not changed regarding non-essential travel out of Canada and Trudeau, along with health officials at the local, provincial and federal level, have repeatedly issued strong warnings against vacationing at this time.
“My message to Canadians remains clear, no one should be taking a vacation abroad right now,” Trudeau said at his briefing Friday.
As March comes around the corner, the prime minister emphasized – “don’t book a trip for spring break.”
Current federal public health guidance says to avoid all non-essential trips outside of Canada, and despite several Canadian politicians being swept up in public backlash for travelling over the holidays – it turns out a substantial number of the public travelled abroad during the holidays.
Approximately 1.2 million people in Canada, many from affluent neighbourhoods, spent at least one night away from home between Dec. 23 to Dec. 30, according to mobile phone location data analysis.
The data – which was analyzed by marketing research firm Environics Analytics for The Globe and Mail – came from a database of location data comprised of 20 million mobile phones, which they then cross-referenced with census demographics and postal codes to build a profile of who was travelling.
The data shows that the vast majority who travelled were wealthy, with an average household income of approximately 118,000 per year, and 70 per cent of them were homeowners. The majority were white, with only a third belonging to racialized groups.
Environics estimates 3.3 per cent of Canadians travelled over the holidays, but most provinces saw a drop of at least 50 per cent in overnight holiday travel compared with the same period in 2019, according to The Globe and Mail report.
Minister of Public Safety Bill Blair echoed Trudeau’s words at the federal ministers COVID-19 briefing Friday.
“To be very clear, it is not the time to travel,” Blair said.
“Temporary restrictions remain on optional and discretionary travel….we will continue to strongly advise Canadians against travel abroad, unless its absolutely necessary,” he said, adding that the government had scaled up the presence of border patrol and public health officers to ensure travellers follow quarantine protocols.
“Quarantine has been, and continues to be our most effective measure,” Blair reiterated.
Minister Dominic LeBlanc also urged Canadians to “stay close to home,” and avoid any international or even cross-Canada travel, saying the cabinet was considering even more stringent measures on anyone coming back into the country from abroad.
Currently travellers must show a negative COVID-19 test taken within 72 hours of departure to be allowed to fly into Canada, with a mandatory 14-day quarantine upon their arrival.
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