Nest and other refugee settlement groups heaved a sigh of relief this week when Ottawa announced it will cover the cost of mandatory hotel quarantine and Covid tests for arriving refugees. 

The mandatory quarantine rules, which went into effect February 22, require people flying into Canada to quarantine in an authorized hotel for three nights, while they await negative test results for Covid 19. Originally, all costs were to be covered by the travellers.

Cost of mandatory quarantine for newly arrived refugees to be covered by government.

But the government announced February 18 it would cover these additional costs for refugees, easing the strain on voluntary organizations like Nest, which must cover all the costs for refugee sponsorship for the first year.

The bill to sponsor a family of four is $24,000, while a  family of six requires a minimum of $26,000. It’s a hefty price tag for sponsorship groups.