Canada’s much publicized border woes continue to edge towards pre-pandemic standards – in some case at the 99 percentile – reports Transport Canada in its most recent update, reflecting data from the week before Thanksgiving.

The latest data includes:

Flight completions

• For the week of Oct. 3-9, 99% of flights planned for Canada’s top four airports were completed (i.e., not cancelled); an improvement from 95% for the first week of July. This percentage is the same as the week of Oct. 7-13, 2019, when 99% of flights for the top four airports were completed.

On-time performance

• From Oct. 3-9, 91% of flights from the top four airports left on time, or within one hour of their scheduled departure. This is a significant improvement from under 75% for the first week of July and is approaching the pre-pandemic levels in October 2019 where 96% of flights were on time, or within an hour of scheduled departure.

Holding of aircraft at YYZ

• The number of arriving international flights being held on the tarmac at Toronto-Pearson International Airport has decreased dramatically since May. For the week of Oct. 3-9, 0.6%, or 12 international flight arrivals, were held on the tarmac, as compared to the peak of 373 during the first week of May.

Passenger security screening wait times

From Oct. 3 to 9, 90% of passengers at the four largest airports were screened within 15 minutes by the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA); an improvement from 79% during the first week of July 2022.

• Toronto-Pearson International Airport: 89% (98%in 2019)
• Vancouver International Airport: 90% (91% in 2019)
• Montréal-Trudeau International Airport: 93% (94% in 2019)
• Calgary International Airport: 89% (87% in 2019)

Advance CBSA Declaration

• Travellers are encouraged to use the optional Advance CBSA Declaration to submit their customs and immigration declaration through ArriveCAN to save time at the airport. This optional feature is currently available to travellers arriving at Toronto-Pearson, Vancouver, Montréal-Trudeau or Winnipeg international airports. In the coming months, this feature will become available at the Calgary, Edmonton, Billy Bishop Toronto City, Ottawa, Québec City and Halifax international airports.

Increasing staffing

• Since April, CATSA has hired 2,011 screening officers across Canada. Efforts to increase screening officer staff levels at all airports continue.