ETA Canada Travel Pass News

Airport Nexus Centers resume operations one by one.

The Nexus program, which enables expedited border crossings between Canada and the United States, will fully resume next month.

The Nexus Registration Center, which was closed due to the pandemic in March 2020, opened in the United States in April last year. But in Canada, the reopening has been delayed because of disagreements over the rights of U.S. border agents to own firearms and other legal protections.

In January, the two countries agreed to a compromise on this issue at a summit, announcing that Canadian border agents would interview Nexus applicants separately from US agents at eight airports across the country. Prior to the pandemic, agents from both countries worked together.

The Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) will open Nexus Registration Centers at Halifax and Winnipeg airports on the 27th. After that, six other airports will resume registration center operations sequentially. Finally, on the 24th of next month, Toronto and Ottawa airports will open registration centers.

Federal Public Security Minister Marco Mendicino said the number of Nexus card applications in July last year rose 21 per cent in three months to nearly 342,000 but had only processed about 100,000 by the end of January.

Nexus is a program suitable for those who frequently travel between Canada and the United States and can drastically reduce immigration screening time. You can register after interviewing at a center near the US-Canada border. The subscription fee is $50 for 5 years.

Toronto police are struggling as more drivers use license plate plastic covers.

The use of license plate covers, which are commonly seen on cars driving on Ontario’s roads, is illegal under the traffic law.

This is because even if it is made of transparent plastic, it is difficult for the police to accurately identify the license plate number. Some products are designed to make it difficult for stop sign and speed cameras to identify license plates of offending vehicles.

These products are readily available on the online store Amazon and auction site eBay, or at Canadian Tire retail stores. However, in recent years, sales of these products have increased significantly in Ontario, causing controversy.

The problem is that while selling license plate covers is legal, installing them on vehicles is illegal.

Over the past three years, the number of vehicles using license plate covers filmed by Toronto’s automated enforcement cameras has skyrocketed. According to data from the city of Toronto, in 2020 alone, 11,000 photos, or about 5.3% of all photos taken, were discarded because license plates failed to read due to blurry images. By 2022, the cumulative number of unreadable photos reached 82,000, accounting for 18% of the total number of violating vehicle shootings.

A Toronto Police official admitted that the current traffic enforcement officers are focusing on four violations: speeding, drinking, distraction, and dangerous driving, and that license plate cover enforcement is not working well. However, he emphasized that it is illegal, saying, “Plastic covers reduce the legibility of license plates and cause other problems such as glare.”

Allison Stewart, co-principal of Cycle of Toronto, a bicycle advocacy group, said, “Not only the use of license plate covers should be banned, but the sale as well.”

Federal Department of Transportation “will provide protection”.

Federal Transport Minister Omar Al-Habra said on Monday that airlines would close loopholes that would allow them to refuse to compensate customers for canceled flights.

At a press conference held at Toronto’s Pearson Airport on the same day, Minister Alhabra answered “yes” to the question of whether airlines would remove their immunity to deny passengers’ compensation claims on grounds of safety.

He also promised to invest $76 million to reduce complaints pouring into the Department of Transportation.

The Department of Transport said the budget would allow it to hire an additional 200 staff to handle about 42,000 pending complaints.

Currently, in Canada, airline passengers can demand compensation other than refunds if they cancel their flights in most circumstances, except for airline strikes, weather or war, but airlines can refuse compensation in case of safety-related issues. However, unlike Canada, there is no compensation loophole in Europe’s air passenger protection regulations.

Federal police have launched an investigation after suspicions arose that two Chinese “overseas secret police departments” were operating in Montreal.

The Montreal daily newspaper ‘Le Journal de Montreal’ reported on the 9th that there is a Chinese Overseas Police Station in Montreal and Brossard, a satellite city to the south, and that the federal police are investigating it.

Federal police explained that they had confirmed that the reports were correct and had opened an investigation.
Suspicion that the Ministry of Public Security of China is operating a “secret police station” abroad under the name of “110 Overseas Service Centers” was revealed last year by the Human Rights Group “Safeguard Defenders” based in Madrid, Spain.

The group claimed last year that the Chinese government operates more than 100 such facilities in more than 50 countries, monitoring and intimidating Chinese expatriate personnel and urging them to return home.

On the other hand, the Chinese government refutes that it is only a facility that provides administrative convenience, such as driver’s license renewal, to its citizens living abroad.

The number of suspected ‘Chinese Overseas Secret Police Stations’ in Canada has increased to at least six. The Safeguard Defenders’ revelations last year had three locations in Toronto, one in Vancouver and one in an unknown location.

The announcement of the launch of the investigation comes amid allegations of election interference that China supported pro-China Liberal Party candidates in the 2019 and 2021 federal elections.

The Federal Liberal Government insisted that China attempted to interfere in the election, but not enough to change the outcome of the election.

However, as the scandal spread, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced on the 6th that he would launch an investigation into the Chinese government’s alleged meddling in the election.

Without immigrants, the survey found that the population of the Greater Toronto Area would have shrunk last year because of the soaring cost of living.

According to a recently released Conference Board of Canada report, last year about 45,000 people left the Toronto Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) to other parts of Ontario, and 24,000 to other provinces. moved residence CMA largely coincides with the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) but does not include most of Burlington and East Durham.

“230,000 immigrants have filled the void left by those who have fled the region,” said Ted Mallett, director of economic forecasting for the Conference Board.

“Without the influx of immigrants, the population would certainly have declined,” he said. “If immigration stopped, the Canadian economy would stop.” He added that there is no possibility of a federal government blockade of immigration in the future.

According to the report, Toronto’s economy grew 3.8% last year, but is expected to slow to 1.2% this year as the impact of high interest rates spreads.

But Mallett said the Toronto area’s economy is more resilient than the rest of the country, despite the downturn. He explained that Greater Toronto is home to a wide variety of industries, which is always helpful in good times and bad times.

However, he argued that the problem of rising living expenses, a major weakness, drives some vulnerable groups to other areas.

Dennis Darby, who runs a manufacturing and exporting business, said cost of living is a concern for manufacturers employing about 330,000 people in the greater Toronto area.
“Immigration is the lifeblood of Toronto’s industry and has been for decades,” he said. “Manufacturers rely on immigration.”

“Immigration is an important part of Toronto’s local economy,” said Ryan Marlowe, vice president of the Canadian Confederation of Independent Businesses (CFIB) Ontario.

An analysis suggests that climate change could turn Toronto into a mosquito breeding ground for tropical viral diseases.

Dengue fever and Zika virus were once classified as diseases of the tropics. But according to a new study, warmer weather creates favorable conditions for the mosquitoes that carry these viruses to breed, putting temperate climate cities like Toronto at risk.

Toronto has a up to 61% chance of becoming a host for the Aedes mosquito within the next 10 years, according to modeling by Toronto software company BlueDot. Known as the ‘Asian tiger mosquito’, this mosquito is a carrier of the dengue fever virus, which kills 40,000 people worldwide every year, and the Zika virus, which can cause birth defects in the fetus when pregnant women are infected.

But experts stress that just because these mosquitoes live doesn’t mean that Toronto will immediately become a hotbed of tropical diseases.

Infectious disease expert Dr. Isaac Bogochi pointed out that Aedes aegyptivirus has already been found in Windsor, Ontario, but dengue fever still occurs more than 2,000 kilometers south of Florida, USA.

“If you consider that climate change-related phenomena are occurring all over the planet, you will see the insect habitats that transmit various viruses expand as well,” he said.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 725,000 people die from mosquito bites worldwide each year, making it the animal that kills the most humans on the planet.

Calgary-Houston fare difference of $500

Even for the same section, the fare differs depending on which country you book the ticket in.

It’s a marketing strategy that airlines have been using for a long time, but many people still don’t know about it.

The Globe and Mail, a national magazine, introduced expert advice while telling the story of a Calgary businessman.

Michael Gillis (Calgary), who works as a broker in the oil industry, accessed United Airlines’ American version of the website early last month to book a Calgary-Houston flight because of a business trip.

After finding out that the fee was US$968 through a preliminary search, when he entered his Canadian credit card information, including his address in Calgary, the price jumped to US$1,774.

Even considering the exchange rate, it was about $500 in Canadian dollars, so he initially suspected something was wrong, and then called the Globe and Mail for help.

“It’s not surprising that prices vary depending on which country you’re booking your ticket from,” said aviation policy expert John Gredec.

As air demand differs depending on the country and region, many airlines use ‘resident fares’ marketing, which applies different fares depending on the ‘passenger’s residence’.

Gredec advised Mr. Gillis that he might be able to purchase a ticket at a lower price if he booked an air ticket through an American travel agent domiciled in the United States.

Operation of the UP Express (UP Union Station-Pearson Airport Express Train), which connects downtown Toronto and Pearson Airport in 25 minutes, has been normalized after 10 days of suspension due to a crack in the brake system.

Metrolinx announced that it will resume express train service from the 21st at a price of 15 minutes, 7 days a week.

It has been 10 days since the operation was suspended due to a crack found in the brake system of the train on the 11th.

In the meantime, TTC has increased the number of express bus services between Kipling Station and Pearson Airport.

The UPee Express runs from Union Station every 15 minutes from 4:55 a.m. to 11 p.m. daily. At Pearson Airport, you can board from 6:00 am to 11:00 pm.

The fare is $12.35 one-way for adults and $24.7 round-trip.

Toronto-Incheon peak season exceeds $2,100.

Air fares are rising steeply as travel demand, which had plummeted due to the corona, has recovered to pre-pandemic levels.

The significant increase in travel spending can be seen in the airline industry’s earnings.

Air Canada, which underwent massive restructuring during the COVID-19 period, announced on the 17th that it recorded a profit of $168 million in the fourth quarter of last year.

In response, Air Canada announced that it plans to increase the airline’s transportation capacity and revenue-generating ability, ‘available seat mileage’, by about 50% compared to the same period last year.

Officials from a Korean travel agency in Toronto said, “Airfare has risen significantly compared to previous years due to the surge in demand for flights to Korea and the increase in fuel tax.”

For some travel agencies, as of the 21st, the round-trip airfare for a direct flight between Toronto and Incheon by Korean Air is $1,854 during off-season (September 1-October 31), $1,989 during semi-peak season (May 1-June 21, etc.), and peak season (6 It is on sale for $2,115 (May 22-July 11). These prices apply only through March 1st.

Air Canada sells non-peak Toronto-Incheon round-trip tickets for $1,549 during the off-season.

If you search the price of a flight to Korea as of May 1 departure through Expedia (www.expedia.ca), a travel reservation website, you can see that Air Canada is $2,466 and Korean Air is $2,730, and the number of seats is extremely limited.

In addition, the burden on travelers is expected to increase as airports that recorded losses during the corona period raised various fees charged to passengers as travel demand recently recovered.

Meanwhile, Korean Air has decided to postpone the implementation of the mileage reform plan (page B13 of the related article), which has caused public outrage.

Korean Air initially tried to reduce mileage benefits through the reform of the mileage system in April but backed away when opposition intensified.

The era of high-speed trains between Toronto and Montreal is expected to advance one step ahead.

Montreal city councilors Craig Sobe and Serge Sasville submitted a motion on the 16th to suggest that the federal government support the construction of a high-speed rail network linking Quebec and Toronto.

When the high-speed rail is introduced, it takes 3 hours to travel between Toronto and Montreal, which takes 5 hours by conventional train.

“Currently, Canada is the only G7 country that does not have a high-speed rail network,” Sobe said.

The two lawmakers said, “This project by Alstom, a railway vehicle manufacturer, has received a great response from the political and business circles of Quebec. Alstom, headquartered in France, is also the original manufacturer of the KTX-I, the first high-speed train introduced in Korea in 1997.

“As the federal government is prepared to make major investments in rail transport, we must seize this opportunity to build a passenger rail infrastructure that is competitive with air transport,” Sobe said.

In the past, there were several discussions about the introduction of high-speed trains in Canada, but they did not materialize.