He didn't even bother applying for an emergency MIQ spot to attend the funeral knowing there was no way he could be there with the service being held just four days after her death.
However, Forrester had already been applying for MIQ spots for months - under the old first-in, first-served system and now the new lottery system in which the closest he's come is 3500th by the time the rooms were taken.
His latest bid to get home under the emergency exemption scheme was also rejected this week despite one of the categories for an exemption being for "New Zealand citizens or residents, who are unable to legally remain in their current location and have no other option but to return to New Zealand".
Forrester said it hurt to hear he had been declined and wouldn't be able to get home to support his family as they came to terms with the death of a loved one.
"Just to hear that I can't go back home to a dad and sister who want me home more than anything - I can't go home and be with them - It hurts a lot."
Joint head of managed isolation and quarantine Megan Main said there was no guarantee that a person who fits within this category would receive an emergency allocation because it depended on the number of applicants and available places in the given time period.
Applicants also had to prove there were no other means of staying lawfully in the country they were in including trying to convert their visa to another type such as a visitor's' visa, she said.
"MIQ declined Mr Forrester's emergency allocation application as the delegated decision makers were not satisfied, from the evidence he provided, that he is legally unable to stay in his current location and has no other option than to return to New Zealand," she said.
"These decisions are not easy ones to make and we are sympathetic to the distressing situations people applying for an emergency allocation are in. However, we need to balance each individual emergency application with our critical work to ensure the safety of all New Zealanders and the limited available capacity in managed isolation facilities."
Forrester has applied for a visitors visa but the processing time at the moment is 130 days. Even if it's granted he will remain unable to work forcing him to continue to rely on the generosity of friends.
"I can't support myself on zero wages," he said.
Forrester moved to Banff in Alberta two years ago where he got a job as a chef. Months later Covid hit forcing him out of work for long periods.
He didn't have the money to get home early on so he stuck it out in Canada where he watched waves of Covid hit the country before he caught the virus himself.
He's since been fully vaccinated but it doesn't help him get home.
Fully vaccinated Canadian citizens could return to the country at any point without isolating and unvaccinated citizens could return as long as they could prove they had a suitable place to quarantine on arrival.
Forrester thinks the New Zealand Government should be following suit and allowing fully vaccinated Kiwis from low-risk countries with a negative pre-departure test to return and isolate at home.
Given the current outbreak and the admission that Kiwis are going to have to live with Covid in the community, the MIQ requirements seemed pointless, he said.
The Government has confirmed a number of times they are looking into such options and are running a home isolation trial next month but say it is unlikely to be an option for most until next year.
An announcement on New Zealand's MIQ system is expected this afternoon and Forrester is hopeful it will allow other Kiwis stuck overseas, in worse situations than him, to get home.
"My time to go back and be with my family is gone," he said. "I know so many other Kiwis around the world are struggling to get home. I don't care if they get home before me.
"I hope for others' sake that there's a change."
A MIQ spokesman said 6553 emergency allocation applications had been processed between October 30, 2020 and October 17 this year. Of those 3597 were approved and 2956 were declined.
