Health Canada Spent $52M on Private Contractors to Help Enforce Quarantines

A person is seen in a room at a government-authorized COVID-19 quarantine hotel in Richmond, B.C., Canada, on Feb. 28, 2021. Darryl Dyck/The Canadian Press

Federal public health authorities awarded $52 million in sole-source contracts under emergency powers to private security companies to help enforce its COVID-19 quarantine orders, data provided by Procurement Canada reveals.

The four private contractors selected by the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) ended up making 590,000 compliance verification visits from Jan. 29, 2021 to Sept. 15, 2022, according to spokesperson Tammy Jarbeau.

Out of those, 123,114 referrals were subsequently made to law enforcement for follow-up.

In total, PHAC says police made 146,878 in-person visits related to quarantine enforcement from March 2020 to Sept. 15, 2022.

Data posted on the PHAC website indicates that 18,562 fines were issued for non-compliance with the Quarantine Act, for reasons such as refusing to go to a designated quarantine facility (8,162), breaching quarantine (547), and refusing testing on arrival (1,273).

Fines for quarantine offences range between $825 and $5,000.

PHAC announced its private contractor program in January 2021 to help enforce the mandatory 14-day quarantine for travellers entering Canada.

At that time the vaccination campaign was just under way, hence the measure did not apply only to unvaccinated individuals as had been the case in recent months.

PHAC awarded contracts to the Canadian Corps of Commissionaires, G4S Secure Solutions, Garda, and Paladin Risk Solutions.

The contracts spanned from Jan. 14, 2021, to September 30, 2022.

Paladin was awarded $167 million, Garda $15,9 million, the Commissionaires $10,5 million, and G4S $8,9 million.

The agency said employees of these companies would be trained and authorized as screening officers under the Quarantine Act, with the task to visit the quarantine locations, make contact, and confirm the identity of the individual.

“The Screening Officer may provide compliance education or issue verbal warnings, as required. Any cases that warrant a stronger enforcement action will be referred to PHAC, and PHAC will refer the case to law enforcement for follow-up,” said a PHAC statement at the time.

The federal government abandoned its last COVID-19 border measures on Oct. 1, thus lifting quarantine orders for returning unvaccinated Canadians and allowing unvaccinated foreigners to enter the country.