With the official first day of summer this week marking the start of the busy travel season for Canadians, the federal government says that much-sought progress is being made in reducing customs clearance times.
Several federal ministers (transport, health, public safety, tourism, finance) with their fingers in the pie provided a collective update this week on the high-profile situation, which has seen bottlenecks in airports across the country, including hours-long waits for travellers at customs, or in planes at the gates.
Minister of Transport Omar Alghabra acknowledged the impact of the “significant wait times” for some travellers – even calling out airlines this week to take their share of the blame – but maintained that ongoing efforts have resulted in a “positive impact” on the situation:
Among them, according to the ministers:
• Wait times at security lines continue to go down at Toronto Pearson International Airport, with about 91% of passengers now being screened within 15 minutes.
• Calgary International Airport also saw a slight overall improvement, with about 86% of passengers now screened within 15 minutes.
• About 84% of passengers were screened within 15 minutes at Vancouver International Airport, which is fewer than the previous week, but still a significant improvement since mid-May.
• About 85% of passengers were screened within 15 minutes at Montreal Trudeau International Airport, similar to the previous week.
Alghabra adds that government is collaborating with the CEOs of the six largest airports and airlines, the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA), NAV CANADA, Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), and the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) in order to “maintain the progress we have made and improve in the weeks to come.”
Actions currently underway, he says, include:
• Nearly 1,000 CATSA screening officers have been hired across Canada since early April. With this, the number of screening officers at Toronto Pearson International Airport and Vancouver International Airport is now over 100% of the targeted requirements for this summer based on projected traffic.
• CBSA is maximizing officer availability and additional Student Border Services Officers are now at work.
• CBSA and the Greater Toronto Airports Authority are making available additional kiosks at Toronto Pearson International Airport customs hall areas.
• CBSA and PHAC streamlined the process to identify travellers who are required to undergo testing at Toronto Pearson International Airport.
• As of June 11, mandatory randomized COVID-19 testing was temporarily suspended at all airports until June 30. As of July 1, all test swabbing, including for unvaccinated travellers, will be performed off-site.
• PHAC is adding additional staff on select days to verify that travellers have completed their mandatory ArriveCAN submissions on arrival and further inform air travellers about the importance of the mandatory requirements.
“This is a global phenomenon due to the increase in air traffic across the world,” Alghabra observed.
Nevertheless, he vowed that the agencies, airports, and airlines will continue to meet regularly to find solutions to address the bottlenecks, including at pre-board security screening and pre-clearance departure checkpoints, in customs halls, and for air traffic control, airport and airline operations.
“We recognize that there is still work to be done,” Alghabra said, “and we will continue to work with partners to reduce the delays in the travel system and to report back to Canadians.”