Buffalo, NY (WBEN) As the first week of Canada welcoming back vaccinated Americans winds down, customs agents are seeing a pattern among those who they've had to turn back because they've forgotten a key thing or two.
Monday was an extremely busy day says Michael Prosia of Canada Border Services Agency. "We did see large delays on the first day, primarily first thing in the morning. We saw a lot of people lining up waiting to come into Canada once the restrictions were changed," says Prosia. "We've seen people who want to see family members they haven't seen in some time. We have a lot of seasonal residents where US citizens own property and cottages and they wanted to check on their properties." However, wait times have been minimal since.
Prosia says there is a pattern he's found among those who have been turned back. "They need to arrive with a mandatory pre-arrival molecular COVID19 test, a PCR test, and that individual submit their mandatory information using the ArriveCan app 72 hours before arriving. What we've noticed is some travelers have been missing one or the other or both," explains Prosia.
Karen Misiak of WNY Rapid Testing says demand for rapid testing has tripled. "There's rapid antigen testing, a lot of people are getting that because of the delta variant. Then, for the border crossing, we've had a big jump for PCRs, and many are getting tests with results in 30 minutes," says Misiak.
Misiak says she's heard of some people being turned back for entering a bridge different than what they enter on the ArriveCAN app. Another reason she's heard for getting turned back: arriving minutes after the 72 hour window. "I try to tell people the data collected date and time will be stamped on the results page. That's what the border patrol goes by. There have been people turned away after being in line, and they're seven minutes past the timeline," explains Misiak.
Prosia says there isn't discretion for border agents. "If there's an issue with a test, we refer a traveler to one of our public health officers, who are on site," says Prosia. Those officers are at the border crossings.
