Canada’s Transport Minister says the government has ramped up efforts to reduce the lineups that have plagued the country’s busiest airports as travel continues its bumpy recovery.
Late Friday, 27MAY, Omar Alghabra and the Minister of Public Safety, Marco Mendicino, released an update on what they say are beefed-up measures.
“It is great news that more and more Canadians are choosing to travel,” the joint statement begins. “As travel volume surges, there are reports of delays in many aspects of travel.”
While acknowledging Canada customs and airport security screening bottlenecks - both under the purview of the federal government - the ministers also point to U.S. customs, luggage handling, and other logjams in the airport process.
And they also point out Canada’s problem is not unique: “We are also witnessing similar phenomena at other airports around the world. Having said that, we are taking action to quickly address delays,” they go on to say, adding they are working with airports and airlines to smooth out the kinks that have frustrated Canadian pax and garnered media attention.
"The Government of Canada recognizes the urgency of the situation and continues to work with all partners to address wait times as a matter of priority,” they say. “Some progress has been made, but we recognize we need to do more—and we will.”
While many Canadians may be skeptical about the benefits of convening a committee beyond creating more bureaucratic busy work, the statement says that Transport Canada has pulled the Public Health Agency of Canada, Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA) all around a table to “develop new approaches to dealing with pressure points in the system.”
The travel industry has called on Ottawa to not only increase staffing for outbound security and inbound border services, it’s also criticized “legacy” Public Health COVID requirements like random testing that are bogging down the process.
Departures:
Ottawa reports it’s working with CATSA to increase screening officers. The statement reiterated earlier comments last week that 400 new screening officers are in the process of being trained and onboarded.
Transport Canada has apparently approved a more streamlined process to get them on the front lines quicker, and CATSA says those officers “will be deployed between now and the end of June.”
The agency also says it’s “close to having recruited 100% of their target numbers of screening officers for the summer in many airports, including Toronto Pearson International Airport and Vancouver International Airport.”
Furthermore, it’s using other staff to carry out non-screening functions to keep the lines moving, and is coordinating with airports, airlines, and other key stakeholders to ensure scheduling aligns with the busiest times.
Arrivals:
The government says it’s on top of inbound delays, “including with planes holding at the gates at Toronto Pearson International Airport.”
CBSA and YYZ “are taking action by adding 25 kiosks to speed up processing time. CBSA is also initiating the Summer Action Plan to ensure efficiency; increasing available officer capacity; and easing the return of Student Border Services Officers,” the statement says.
It adds that Health Canada “is working with CBSA and partners to streamline their operations. For example, they will be removing the requirement for Mandatory Random Testing on the International to Domestic Connections Process. Other changes to streamline processing on public health grounds are being developed.”
Taking Credit
Ottawa says the actions it’s already taken have begun to pay off, with “declining wait times for screening. Since the beginning of the month, the number of passengers waiting 30 minutes and more for outbound screening at our largest airports (Toronto Pearson International, Vancouver International, Montreal Trudeau International and Calgary International), has been halved across all four airports.”
"Airports, airlines and the Government of Canada, including CATSA, PHAC, TC and the CBSA, are improving communications with travellers so passengers can better anticipate pre-boarding screening and arrival processing requirements, facilitating a smoother passage in and out of airports.”
Pax Can Be Part of the Solution
It adds that travellers can also help speed up the process, by using the ArriveCAN app to both save time and avoid triggering an automatic decision that any pax without ArriveCAN is to be treated as an unvaccinated traveller, slowing down the arrivals process.
Furthermore, “travellers arriving at Toronto Pearson International Airport and Vancouver International Airport can use the Advanced CBSA Declaration on the web version of ArriveCAN to make their customs and immigration declaration up to 72 hours in advance of flying into Canada. This will save travellers time when they arrive at the airport. This feature will be integrated into the ArriveCAN mobile app this summer and will also be made available at other airports across Canada in the coming months.”
Anyone over 16 can also use the new eGates at YYZ to “verify their identity and submit their customs and immigration declaration, which will improve the traffic flow at the Terminal 1 arrival hall and speed up processing.”
