Couple forced to quarantine in COVID hotel after test results were refused by boarder agents

MONTREAL (CityNews) – A Quebec couple in their 60s is having to quarantine at a Montreal hotel after coming back from spending six months in Florida.

The couple got their two COVID-19 shots and say they drove back only to have their COVID-19 tests be refused by Canadian border service agents.

The tests the couple has taken had expired by nine hours, and the couple say they are slow drivers and simply didn’t make it to the border on time.

“By the time they crossed it had been 81 hours, they said it’s no good we are going to make arrangements to send you to that hotel, you’re going to do another test, and you’re likely going to spend another night, maybe two, and if you don’t comply, you’re going to be charged with $5,000 fee each,” explained Sandrine Tewfik, daughter of the couple.

“She pleaded with them to let them cross,” said Tewfik, explaining the situation her mother was in. “Her blood pressure dropped so low they had to call an ambulance, they still said you can’t go home.”

The couple, Marie and Manny – who are using only their first names for fear they won’t be able to travel again – say they were mocked and ridiculed upon arrival at the Canadian border where they spent nearly five hours.

Marie claims border agents took pleasure in looking at her cry while she was begging them to go home. Adding she suffers from anxiety and her puppy Gucci is her emotional support dog.

“One of the border agents told her that’s what you get when you travel when you’re not supposed to. They were being punished, some of them were laughing at them, there were a couple of border agents plus two health Can reps there and both were humiliating them and they were there for five hours”.

CityNews contacted Peter Schiefke, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister of Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship, in the House of Commons and he said: “Border officers are expected to uphold and apply laws and procedures in place. If her and her family feel that they were not treated fairly and that the procedures and laws were not applied in the way they should have been, the complaints system is there for that exact purpose.”

CityNews also reached out to the Canadian Border Service Agency and they said: “Where questions arise with regards to a traveler’s quarantine plan, health status, or molecular test documentation, CBSA border services officers refer the traveler to a quarantine officer who will make a determination on the next steps.”

For the couple and their puppy Gucci, they’re left in limbo sitting and waiting in a Montreal hotel for their latest COVID-19 test results – even though they thought they did everything right – including making sure they were double vaccinated.