Canada cracking down on Americans entering country to get to Alaska

Canada has announced new restrictions against Americans entering the country in an attempt to crack down on the so-called "Alaska loophole."

The Canada-U.S. land border has been closed to non-essential traffic since March 21, but Americans have still been allowed through if they are driving through Canada to get to Alaska for an essential purpose such as working or returning home.

This has led to cases where Americans have seemingly told border officers that they will be driving on to Alaska, but then vacationed in Canada instead.


Six American tourists were ticketed after hiking around Lake Louise, Alta. in June and six other fines have been levied against Americans in B.C. for Quarantine Act violations. An RCMP spokesperson told CTV News Calgary on Thursday that there had not been any further tickets since the six at Lake Louise.

The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) said Thursday that it is imposing new restrictions on anyone who enters the country from the U.S. mainland to get to Alaska.

These pass-through visitors will also be given a "hang tag" to attach to their vehicle's rear-view mirror, to make them easily identifiable. The tag will include the date by which they must leave Canada.

The same restrictions apply to any non-Canadians travelling to the mainland U.S. from Alaska.

According to the CBSA, anyone who provides false information to a border officer could be banned from returning to Canada, while penalties for violating the Quarantine Act can include fines of up to $750,000 and jail terms of up to six months.

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