Canada Allows International Transit Passengers to Skip Border Checks at Three Major Hubs

The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) is allowing international travelers connecting through Canada’s busiest airports to skip border check-ins on connecting flights.

The CBSA said this week that travelers connecting at three airports—Toronto Pearson (Terminal 1), Montréal–Trudeau International Airport, and Vancouver International Airport—will be able to go directly to their next flight without having to stop at customs.

The program, called the Free Flow International-to-International Transit process, lets a traveler’s airline provide the CBSA with the information (such as final destination and scheduled departure time) it needs, and then confirm that the traveler left the country on a connecting flight as planned.

Travelers will still have to carry their travel documents, including any required visas, an Electronic Travel Authorization (eTA), and a confirmed airline ticket for departure, and must have a connecting flight within 24 hours of arrival. If their flight is delayed, or if they have to re-check baggage, which largely depends on an airline’s policy, then they’ll have to go through the normal customs process.

“We are working with our airport partners to provide a simpler and more efficient process for travellers to get to their international destinations without delay. The CBSA is putting in place tools and technologies, and updating processes to build the border of the future,” Rob Chambers , Vice President, Travellers Branch, Canada Border Services Agency said in the announcement.

The hope for the program is that it expands beyond those three airports. The CBSA said that other airports now have the option to apply to adopt the new process.