International students returning to campus this fall will have to navigate Carleton’s COVID-19 guidelines as well as Canadian and Ontario travel regulations.
The university’s administration, International Student Service Office (ISSO) and the Carleton University Students’ Association (CUSA) are attempting to ease the transition by providing international students with information and support.
On Aug. 3, international travelers coming to Canada will no longer be required to quarantine if they receive a full series of vaccines authorized by the Government of Canada. At the time of the announcement, Canada approved four vaccines: Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech, AstraZeneca and Janssen (Johnson & Johnson).
In response to the change in Canada’s travel restrictions, Carleton announced that fully vaccinated international students will not have to observe the 14-day quarantine and the ISSO will provide support to the students who will have to quarantine.
One form of support is a discount on flights. The ISSO is partnering with Air Canada to offer Carleton students traveling to Canada a 15 per cent discount on flights purchased before Aug. 31.
Valentina Vera Gonzalez, CUSA vice president (student issues), shared the flight discount information via her Instagram story on July 20 to spread the word to students. Gonzalez also said the ISSO, the Student Experience Office and CUSA are working together to compile and deliver quarantine kits to international students who are not fully vaccinated and must quarantine upon arrival.
“It’s a kit with information and Carleton and CUSA merch. That’s [what] we’ve been working on in terms of [giving them the] right supports once they’re in Canada,” Gonzalez said.
The quarantine kit will be mailed directly to international students.
CUSA international student advisory committee student at large Anshul Tipnis expressed concern for international students who will be doing online classes as a result of mandatory quarantines or travel restrictions.
There needs to be a little extra accommodation by the professors.Anshul Tipnis
Tipnis said recording lectures would make courses more accessible for international students and that professors should be more flexible with deadlines for students in quarantine and those who live in different time zones.
“I know many of [the professors] have a privacy concern [with recording lectures] which is fine,” Tipnis said. “But I think that profs really need to understand that it’s not just about privacy [but rather] just helping every student.”
International students will also be partnered with an upper-year student through the Global Peer Advisor Lending Support (PALS) group at Carleton. The program acts as a resource to help support and guide international students as they navigate their first year at Carleton.
The university encourages international students to confirm information with government-run sites such as Canada Public Health Agency and Ontario Public Health, since entry into Canada and quarantine requirements is under federal and provincial jurisdiction.
“Final determination on entry to Canada, including the approval under the fully vaccinated exemption, will be made at the Port of Entry by the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA),” said Carolyn McGill, international student immigration specialist and staff member of the ISSO, in an email statement to the Charlatan.
Students looking for updated information on changing travel regulations can check the ISSO website.
An earlier version of this article stated Anshul Tipnis was the chair of the CUSA international student advisory committee. In fact, Tipnis is a student at large. The article was last updated on Aug. 3.
Featured graphic by Sara Mizannojehdehi.
