Originally Posted by
mistermap
Yes, but that information is out of date or at least not universally applied. For many YYZ T1 arriving US flights, baggage is moved automatically to domestic flights. This has been the situation for many months.
Have you tried to contact the airport directly?
I went EWR ---> YYZ. All fine. On a recent trip in March I checked a bag at YYZ ---> EWR direct (dropped at YYZ) and went through CATSA/US CBP Preclearance. CBP didn't have a photo of my bag and directed me back to "International Baggage 2" next to US CBP line (but after CATSA security checkpoint).
It was a small waiting room with AC/United reps available that would take your ticket/passport and look for your bag. There was normally an input/output flow for passengers who came from an international destination to wait until they were called or otherwise cleared. Towards the US CBP end, there were airport reps and kiosks for people to scan their boarding passes, I assume to see if their luggage had cleared into the YYZ system with the image for customs appropriately before being allowed to proceed. Once my bag was located/photographed , I scanned my boarding pass at a kiosk, got some sort of clearance mark, and re-entered US CBP pre-clearance.
I'm not sure what destinations or airlines receive this sort of treatment though. You might be better off calling the airport/airline or tweeting them.
They also have a long announcement at the baggage claim after CBSA on who does or doesn't need to pick up bags, but since I'm always direct to YYZ with no further stops I've never really paid attention to it...