The rule applies to both citizens and permanent residents and is scheduled to end on Aug. 29, 2026.

Lily‑Madeleine Seguin, a public‑health promotion adviser with Oxfam, had to cancel a two‑month deployment to the DRC because the quarantine left no time before a planned sabbatical, and she said, “To me, we’re not stepping up in the way that we should be as a country that does have the ability to do it and changing the quarantine regulations is a low‑stakes way of being able to do it.”

Mylene Ratelle, hired as a health promotion manager by MSF, also had to cut her stay in the DRC short and return to Canada for the three‑week quarantine, adding, “I’m very critical about how Canada chose to implement their public health measures.”

MSF reports that at least 11 Canadians with highly valuable expertise have cancelled assignments because of the quarantine, and a total of 23 Canadians have taken part in MSF’s Ebola response in the DRC.

The World Health Organization says this is the fastest‑growing Ebola outbreak in history, with more than 2,500 deaths out of over 5,000 infections.

Health Canada says it is reviewing the restrictions with international partners and will announce any changes before the measures expire on Aug. 29.

Humanitarian workers argue that the long quarantine limits Canada’s ability to contribute skilled personnel on the ground, which could slow the overall response to the rapidly spreading epidemic.