Lee Alexander has been in Canada since December.
He was due to return to Jersey in mid-May before travelling to Australia or New Zealand. However, he lost his job in March due to the Covid-19 pandemic and was unable to move on to the southern hemisphere.
Mr Alexander is one of dozens of Islanders who remain stuck abroad due to the travel restrictions in place across the world.
He said: ‘Being unemployed and uncertain of finding another job, of receiving support from the Canadian government or extending my lease on my current accommodation, I started to look into the option of going home to see this out – at which point I was made aware of the singular daily flight from Southampton.
‘This presented a number of implications, and it would have meant me having to pass through multiple airports as well as [dealing with] the sheer lack of support I would receive from the Government of Jersey, even as a Jersey native, in a climate in which it would be nigh on impossible for me to find work. Recently, however, it was confirmed that I would receive support from the Canadian government through this time, as well as getting an extension on my lease for the foreseeable future, so I made the decision to stay out in Canada.
‘I must make the point that the support from the Canadian government has been exceptional and that they are looking after me as a foreign worker on a work permit.’
He added that some of his family and friends had not received much help from Jersey’s government in trying to get back to the Island.
Now he believes that, due to the extended lockdown in Canada, it is safer for him to stay put and wait out the pandemic there.
He said: ‘There are around 38,000 cases across Canada. In British Colombia – the province in which I live – there are just over 1,600 confirmed cases, with over 1,000 recovered.
‘The province has yet to enforce full lockdown, as residents are taking the social-distancing guidelines very seriously.
‘So I feel rather fortunate to be here and much safer than I would be in Jersey or the UK.’
