US visitors on ‘essential’ trips in Canada fined $1,200 each for sightseeing detour

Visitors from the United States admitted to Canada to drive to Alaska are paying the price for taking side trips to Banff National Park, CBC News reports.

Royal Canadian Mounted Police have issued $1,200 tickets to at least six Americans found hiking at the national park west of Calgary in Alberta, Global News reported.

“They’re only to engage in essential needs on the way. Which doesn’t include going hiking in the park,” said RCMP Cpl. Deanna Fontaine, Daily Hive reported.

The U.S.-Canadian border has been closed to non-essential travel as a coronavirus precaution since March, CBC News reported. Americans who live or work in Alaska are allowed to enter, but must agree to travel there on a direct path and stop only for essentials.

Police issued four tickets Tuesday to one group after their vehicle with U.S. plates was spotted parked for an extended time at the national park, Global News reported. Two others were cited Friday in similar incidents.

Information on a possible seventh case was not available, according to the publication.

Fontaine said Alberta law enforcement agencies are not specifically watching for U.S. violators of border-crossing rules, but will cite them when they are found, Daily Hive reported.

“I’m not confident in saying that this is a trend,” Fontaine said, according to CBC News.

She also noted that many U.S. citizens and people with dual citizenship live in Canada legally near Banff National Park, Daily Hive reported.

This story was originally published June 22, 2020 at 11:00 AM with the headline "US visitors on ‘essential’ trips in Canada fined $1,200 each for sightseeing detour."