New Brunswick Restricts Inter-Provincial Migration Over Coronavirus

New Brunswick has announced it is restricting inter-provincial migration to help the fight against the spread of coronavirus.

Provincial ‘peace officers’ are authorized to turn away visitors trying to enter the province from Quebec, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia. All unnecessary travel into New Brunswick is prohibited in a move aimed to half the spread of COVID-19.

Premier Blaine Higgs said: “We must do all we can to prevent and reduce the spread of COVID-19 in New Brunswick.

“We are implementing screening at interprovincial borders. Regardless of where you are, we urge you to avoid any non-essential travel.”

All travellers entering the province from the three neighbouring will, like international travellers, be required to self-isolate for 14 days after arrival.

Inter-provincial travellers will be stopped and required to produce identification. Their contact information and intended destination will be collected, even if they are only passing through the province.

The province says commercial traffic and essential workers will be exempt from the restrictions, “so that services are maintained and critical supplies can continue to move across provincial boundaries unimpeded.”

Exemptions also include police officers, firefighters, paramedics and members of the military.

As of March 25, New Brunswick had 26 confirmed cases of COVID-19.

New Brunswick has declared a state of emergency over COVID-19.

The New Brunswick Provincial Nominee Program says it is continuing to accept and process applications for its economic immigration streams.

A statement said that there may be delays in the processing of files due to coronavirus.

Colin Singer

Colin Singer is an international acclaimed Canadian immigration lawyer and founder of immigration.ca featured on Wikipedia. Colin Singer is also founding director of the Canadian Citizenship & Immigration Resource Center (CCIRC) Inc. He served as an Associate Editor of ‘Immigration Law Reporter’, the pre-eminent immigration law publication in Canada. He previously served as an executive member of the Canadian Bar Association’s Quebec and National Immigration Law Sections and is currently a member of the Canadian Chapter of the American Immigration Lawyers Association. Colin has twice appeared as an expert witness before Canada’s House of Commons Standing Committee on Citizenship and Immigration. He is frequently recognized as a recommended authority at national conferences sponsored by government and non-government organizations on matters affecting Canada’s immigration and human resource industries. Since 2009, Colin has been a Governor of the Quebec Bar Foundation a non-profit organization committed to the advancement of the profession, and became a lifetime member in 2018.