Is that based on the passenger or where they're coming from?

I thought it was the latter, in which case, they could adjust the MCT.

Though this entire thing is stupid if a flight from PEK and DEN land at the same time, and passengers from PEK can hand things off to those from DEN.

They were only asking for point of origin and not asking to see boarding passes when entering the OSS customs area.

MCT cannot be adjusted due to OSS because there is chance the traveler could be selected for secondary inspection or that the traveler has declared an importation limit above their personal exemption. Under these circumstances the pax must go through the standard process.

I don't know about the "standard" process. Last time I came back from PHX I declared $3,200ish over my $750 (or whatever it is) and all they did is swipe my card, didn't bother to check my bags or anything like that. Took 5 min.

Both, in a sense.

If you fly DEN-YYZ-YQT, then you may be OSS eligible.
But if you are flying MEX-DEN-YYZ-YQT you may not be OSS eligible.
So not everyone on the flight is/isn't OSS eligible as not everyone is simply flying from DEN-YYZ.
Not sure about YYZ, but in YYC there is a Customer Care Ambassador that checks to see if you have 'OSS' on your boarding pass. If you do, then you follow the OSS process. If you don't, then you follow the regular process. As well, there are passengers that are OSS eligible but then CBSA deems them ineligible (e.g.: transportation of firearms, importation of animals, dutiable items that require fee collection, etc.).

This shows why the system is even more of a farce, like the guy originating from non-OSS countries can't hand off stuff to one originating from OSS-eligible countries on the same flight into Canada. :rolleyes: Don't get me wrong, I have benefited from the OSS protocol a couple of times now, but really they should just make all pax eligible or none are eligible.

I just went through the "new" system in YYZ. I mentioned to the custom officer that it wasn't like this a couple of weeks ago. He said it was temporary while they redo some of the Nexus machines and other stuff. I guess we will have to wait and see.

Does it have anything to do with the new kiosks?

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/canad...on-kiosks.html

Regarding the speed of the new system: on the flight from LAX to YYZ my co-worker whose upgrade cleared was in row 2 and I was in row 25 because mine did not. Before we boarded I told him to go ahead when we landed in YYZ because we were both trying to get an earlier flight to YOW and I didn't want him to have to wait for me and maybe miss it. He wasn't paying attention and he went down though regular customs hall and re-cleared security ... we ran in to each other heading to the gate for the YOW flight, where he wondered how I had managed to get past him!

So it saved me however long it takes to disembark 24 rows of a 767 ... maybe 5-10 mins or so? If there had been a NEXUS machine in that new area and I didn't have to stand in line it would have saved another 5 mins at least. For someone without NEXUS at all who had to go stand in the regular YYZ security line it could have saved quite a bit more time.

Saving the hassle of the security line was a major bonus as well, regardless of time saved.

That is just at YOW right now so far as I know, and also as far as I know unrelated.

MEX-DEN-YYZ pax would be rescreened by TSA at DEN to TSA standards. OSS eligibilty would be applicable from that point onwards.

You are confusing OSS, which is a Transport Canada / CATSA program, with ITD which falls under the purview of the CBSA.

Once can certainly be OSS eligible but completely incapable of benefiting from due to CBSA processing needs such as you mention.

The concierge told me yesterday that OSS was up in operations "for the next few weeks" effective Friday. Due to a mixed-up same day change I didn't have OSS on my connecting boarding pass but it didn't matter, the customs agents didn't mention it as they processed me.

While I had to wait about 5 mins on the shuttle bus before it started over to the domestic side, there was still a little time savings and definitely a huge reduction in hassle (no security to clear).

Too bad that the airport architecture didn't (and couldn't) anticipate these changes. It's definitely a mess in the International/US area for connections now, with criss-crossing pathways and tons of airport staff directing people and checking boarding passes.

If they would just add a couple Nexus machines in the OSS area it would definitely be faster. I would also prefer walking to the bus, but that is at least half because I like to stretch my legs after a flight and prefer to walk over pedways and busses.

When I went through around 4pm Friday, there was no line whatsoever at OSS. Probably four customs agents working, and no wait. So Nexus machines wouldn't have helped.

Why would someone not be eligible due to their origin airport? Wouldn't someone flying MEX-DEN-YYZ have gone through TSA screening in DEN and thus be just as compliant with Canada's security standards as someone who started in DEN?

And then couldn't someone starting in MEX and wanting to bypass an extra screening in YYZ just do MEX-DEN and DEN-YYZ as separate tickets so they'd get OSS?