The enigma has been cracked. Yesterday the Canadian government announced that the border will be open for non-essential visitors. And Scott Lake guests that means YOU.
But we can’t get ahead of ourselves. To open our doors involves a lot of time, effort, and expense. To make a sound business decision, we need to reconfirm our guest’s commitment to still do their trip. BASCIALLY IF YOU’RE READY, WE’RE READY. So, let’s find out quickly if we can work together to make the season happen.
First, here is the FINE PRINT (there’s always fine print) on the border opening:
- Visitors must register online with ArriveCan. This is a piece of cake, just providing basic arrival information. Even me, a digitally handicapped person, did this part last week as an “essential” visitor in less than two minutes.
2. Visitors must have proof of vaccination of vaccines approved by the Canadian government. These include two doses of the Pfizer or Moderna products or one dose of the Johnson and Johnson product. For all vaccines, the final dose must have been given at least 14 days prior to arrival at the border
3. Visitors must have proof of a negative Covid-19 molecular test, commonly known as a PCR test, that was taken within 72 hours of arrival at the border. This has been a common international travel requirement.
4. Visitors must fill out a quarantine plan via the ArriveCAN app in case of positive test in a random screening (see #5).
5. Visitors may be subjected to a random Covid-19 molecular test. What does random mean? Just that, there is a small chance you will be selected to do a PCR test upon arrival. In the highly unlikely event you test positive, you would be required to quarantine in Canada for 14 days. The odds of a false positive with the molecular test are exceedingly low.
Those are the governmental requirements for entering Canada. Scott Lake Lodge has just one: YOU NEED TO BE IN SASKATOON BY 2:30 PM ON THE DAY OF YOUR CHARTER FLIGHT TO THE LODGE from the private charter facility adjacent to the commercial airport. We need our charter flight to depart at 3:30 PM to allow some cushion for a safe and comfortable float plane flight from Stony Rapids (your charter destination) to the lodge. Unfortunately, the same-day arrivals from Toronto and Calgary arrive too late. You may have to arrive the night before, as most of our guests already do. Starting August 7th there are many more Canadian cities available to international travelers. The best options for your connecting flights to Saskatoon are through Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Winnipeg, Calgary, Edmonton, or Vancouver.
The clock is running on our decision process about making this shortened season happen. GIVEN THE CONDITIONS DESCRIBED, WE NEED YOU TO CONFIRM YOUR INTENTIONS ABOUT KEEPING YOUR CURRENT RESERVATION. PLEASE SEND AN EMAIL TO OUR SALES MANAGER, JON WIMPNEY, AS SOON AS POSSIBLE BUT NO LATER THAN THIS THURSDAY, JULY 22ND.
We realize this is a lot of ask on such short notice, but these aren’t normal business operating conditions. We have a lot of vendor coordination to arrange and literally tons of supplies to order to make the season happen. Most Canadian lodges threw in the towel weeks ago, but we are not most Canadian lodges: since we know how much you value the Scott Lake Experience, we wanted to keep your options open.
If you have any questions please call our Customer Representative, Shirley Albrent, at 888/830-9525 (from Canada use 715/362-7031). While he will be extraordinarily busy, Jon will do his best to also take calls at 306/209-7150. With your help, we can get you up here for a sensational trip. We will have the team and the facilities ready. I can guarantee that our island has never looked better, and we have never been more eager to welcome guests. It’s been a long wait. You will have to wait just a little longer. We will, as promised in the last update, announce our plans and provide more travel suggestions on July 26. Nothing will make us happier than seeing you on our dock.