Cristina travelled from Ontario to Portugal with her daughter and brother to arrange the funeral of her father. The funeral could not be arranged from Canada, and of course Cristina wanted to say goodbye. Who wouldn’t? When planning her return home to Canada, Cristina tried for hours to book a quarantine hotel through the government phone line but she could never get through. When she arrived in Canada without a hotel, she was assigned one by the government. Even though her test results came back within only a few hours, Cristina and her family were billed nearly $4,000 for their time in the hotel.

Yann is the legal guardian of his mother who lives in France in a care facility. Yann’s mother lives with dementia, and doctors have told him that she is at the end of her life. She has been in and out of hospitals, and Yann would like to travel to France to say goodbye to his mother and make end of life arrangements. But the exploitative cost of the quarantine hotels is standing between Yann and his last moments with his mother.

TJ lives in Vancouver and his wife lives in the United States. Last year, his wife injured her shoulder and she needs regular physiotherapy. She also needs surgery in the next month. She lives alone, and struggles to complete simple daily tasks. Even showering and washing her hair is painful. Until recently, TJ would regularly travel to the United States to help her. But with the new quarantine hotels, he can’t afford to be with his wife. TJ is supporting her financially while she recovers, and finances are tight. When his wife has surgery TJ wants to help her recover, but they don’t know how they will afford the return to Canada if he is required to stay in one of these quarantine hotels.