Anyone attempting to arrange travel in and out of Canada is facing complications due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“France is sitting at around 4,500 cases at the moment and it’s definitely become more real,” said Jordan DeLarge, ESL Teacher.
DeLarge and his friend Connor are in Fugro, France, teaching English as a second language, but the COVID-19 pandemic has forced them to shorten their trip.
They booked a flight to Toronto for the end of March but now they think it might be too late.
“The website for Air Portugal, they were offering us free switch if we wanted to head home earlier so I tried to book one and all that’s available are in the $4,000 range but there’s certainly no flights within the next four days,” said DeLarge.
Gabor Lukacs with Air Passenger Rights pointed out that countries have been closing borders around the world.
For Canada, it could be a matter of time, Lukacs added.
“This is a very dire situation and I’m afraid that some Canadians may get stranded abroad, some Canadians may have to be brought back by the military like they have done in China,” said Lukacs.
While DeLarge and his friend keep looking for options to get home, other Canadians touched back down on Canadian soil Sunday.
Elliott Maggs is returning from a couple job interviews in New York.
He says he didn’t notice any extra screening measures on his way out of the airport.
“They were doing the best that they could but people were kind of freaking out, there was actually a fight that kind of broke out as someone got too close to someone else — so tensions are high,” said Maggs.
Toronto Pearson International Airport says starting now, there will be signs in the airport with as much information as possible with what the Canadian government recommends.
“I was supposed to head over to Jamaica for a business meeting, I actually cancelled that flight because my business partner in Jamaica called me (saying) ‘don’t bother coming’,” said Lannie Henderson, travelling back from Miami.
After returning from the United States, he is taking precautionary measures.
“I’m a single father, I sent my daughter to her mom’s and that’s what I’m going to do right now, I’m going to self-quarantine for a couple weeks,” said Henderson.