Toronto Pearson International Airport could be a large labyrinth for many people. Completing declaration and crossing the border is a daunting task, 😥 especially for new comers and first-time visitors. 🙂 Take a breath and relax. This article is to help you navigate through those complex steps so you can complete declaration and enter Canada legally and smoothly.
⚠️Before you start, we highly recommend you submit your declaration on ArriveCAN up to 72 hours before arriving in Canada. The app is available on Apple's App Store and Google Play.
Five steps after you land at Toronto Pearson Airport:
Customer Declaration
1.1 Follow the sign of Baggage and Exit to find the location of eGate machine or Primary Inspection Kiosks where you should complete your declaration.
1.2 Complete Custom Declaration at an eGate or a Kiosk and print your Declaration Card. If you have submitted the declaration on ArriveCAN, your prefilled answers will be displayed on the screen for you to review them.
📣 Find more here about what an eGate and a Kiosk are, which one you should use, and how to use them.
Declaration check by a border office (the first border checkpoint).
2.1 Take your printed Declaration Card and go to see a border officer 👮. The office will review and mark your Declaration Card and hand it back to you.
2.2 For the student, worker and permanent resident who land in Canada for the first time, the office will ask you to proceed to another room where you should collect your Study Permit, Work Permit or Confirmation of Permanent Residence (COPR). For the first-time landing permanent resident, the Permanent Resident Card will be mailed to you later.
Head to luggage pick-up lobby and pick your luggage.
🧳The lobby is huge, equipped with over 10 carrousels. The display screen in the lobby broadcasts the baggage carrousel number for your flight. Don't miss the carrousel information for your flight, if you don't' want to walk back and forth in the huge lobby to search the right one.
😻You can find luggage carts in the lobby. They are free to use at Pearson Airport.
Take your luggage and head to the Exit gate.
Before passing the Exit gate, hand your Declaration Card to another border officer (the second border checkpoint).
🎉Voila! You made it! Your friends or families may have been waiting you at the Exit gate.
🙋You can also book a ride with us, so we can pick you up at the Exit gate!
What's the difference❓
To put it simple:
If you are under age 16 and traveling without the accompanying of an age 16 or older, you must can't use either of those and you must see a border officer in person.
If you are a single traveler aged 16 or older, you can use eGate.
If you are a group up to 5 persons and at least one of you is age 16 and older, you can use a Kiosk.
How to use❓
You need to finish declaration and print a Declaration Card on a Kiosk or eGate, and bring it to a border officer:
Select a language on the screen: English, Français, 中文, etc.
Scan your passport.
Remove your glasses if you have, look into the camera, and take a photo.
Answer declaration questions. If you have filled them on the ArriveCAN app, your prefilled answers will be displayed on the screen for you to review them.
Once all the questions have been completed and confirmed, a Declaration Card will be printed. You need to take this Declaration Card to a border office.