yrp

Thanks for this.

As it turns out... her flight is delayed until about 8pm now. So that's pretty much the exact time of day.

Dave510

Arrived yesterday on a VIE-YYZ AC flight. Touched down at 1:44 PM and exited immigration and customs (was sent to secondary because apparently I lost too much weight) + retrieved checked baggage + health screening (was unfortunately also selected to do PCR test) by 2:27 PM.

Now I sit here in quarantine, stewing about the irrational quarantine rules.

yrp

Last time I was in Vienna they had some rather excellent treatments for that condition at the cafes and coffee shops.

Losing weight did not seem a risk…

yrp

In the end, the original flight changed into a connection in Montréal. Arriving at about 12:30pm, it took about an hour and 15 mins to get through formalities.

TheCanuckian

YYZ International/transborder arrivals were crazy last night (April 10). We arrived at gate F64 and rode up the escalator to find a line of people making their way into the customs area that stretched all the way back to pretty much the international gates. There were hundreds and hundreds—perhaps thousands of people—in line. The first people off our flight tried to just blend into the line but were booed and yelled at, so made their way to the end. I didn't note how long the wait was all-told, but it was very long. And the customs hall was a total gong show. So I guess they still haven't solved this issue.

sydneyracquelle

This is why I strictly travel transborder and international on WestJet, AA and DL on my returns to YYZ in T3. Quick and painless. All of my AC flights I always have to wait 1-2 hours on the plane upon landing.

Davvidd

I did one in December and last month with AC and it was very quick. No queue at all. Flight landed around 1545. I was thru immigration before my baggage had arrived on the belt. I guess with the opening up things are getting busy then?

gwickes

Significant Customs Delay at Pearson Airport - Experience at T3 on 4/8/22 and 4/10/22
Short version: Customs in Toronto Pearson has a capacity problem. Holding passengers on arriving airplanes for 1 hour and more. Processing time in customs hall extreme (up to 1 hour and longer). Expect delays after landing and missed connections.

Long version: Flew AA #1111 DFW to YYZ on 4/8/22. Flight arrived a few minutes early at 4:20PM. Then the wait started. After 10 minutes flight attendant said Canada Customs won't let passengers disembark because customs hall is overwhelmed. After 30 minutes announcement that approved to release 20 passengers at a time at 5 minute intervals, but that didn't happen.

Finally after an hour on plane (all passengers), announcement that customs approved release of 50 passengers. Luckily I was in row 9 of the 737 and disembarked after all the first class folks... funny listening to the gate agent count off the numbers... 23, 24, 25 etc.

Up the stairs and down the escalator to customs hall... what a zoo! Packed with people transiting the custom kiosks. Thankfully, I have NEXUS (the best $50 I have ever spent for traveling). No line at all. After failing with one Nexus Kiosk (now tap with Nexus card and machine moves up to take photo scan -- but first one couldn't get photo), got second one to work. Border agent happy to pass me through quickly, looked at printout, passport and waved me through.

I talked to others as I transited baggage carousel area who said it was at least an hour navigating "regular customs" (ie not Nexus). Some also delayed disembarking their plane, so almost 2 hours after landing to get through. And baggage claim was a mess. Lots of bags everywhere since all the owners were backed up getting through customs. And anyone with connections was seriously late and likely missing their connecting flight.

Glad I had carry-on and Nexus. After getting off the plane, I was out of terminal in less than 10 minutes.

Got to see the reverse on way home to DFW from Toronto on 4/10/22. Same AA #1111 flight departing this time from YYZ at 5:29pm (AA uses same plane and flight number for inbound from DFW and outbound back to DFW from YYZ). Inbound landed early at T3 (gate A7) but like my arrival on Friday, customs held everyone on plane. Gate agents for American were great trying to explain to the growing crowd what was going on. Gate beside was AA Miami flight and experiencing same situation with customs.

Finally after 1hr, customs permitted all passengers to disembark. Once off, we got on and AA 1111 departed about 6:35 and airborne approx 6:50pm getting to gate at DFW about an hour late. (sounded like many connecting passengers would miss their flights)

Final Thoughts
After looking at Twitter and talking to a few others, this delay at customs seems to be extremely common lately for all international flights (US and overseas). Not sure there is a quick resolution. So if can, avoid heavy travel/arrival times and pad extra time if you have connections. Its great to be flying to Canada again, but this experience with customs isn't going to make it very enjoyable.

a5un

Is that why my YYZ - MUC flight a couple weeks ago got delayed? It ended up costing AC a lot, since 90% of passengers in the flight has another connection in MUC and must be rebooked, etc.
On my way back, during my transit in YYZ, they won't let passengers disembark. A few passengers in the plane were used to this and were ready forcing their way out. Luckily, I was heading to US, thus not using the arrival hall. I was let off the plane by the flight attendance.

a5un

Have international AC flights out of YYZ been delayed recently due to the incoming plane have to sit on tarmac waiting for immigration hall to open up space?

WesternCDN

Yes, and for TB flights as well.

expert7700

They must be causing delays.

Our flight from DOH to YYZ was instructed to allow at most 50 passengers off every 10min. They started with J and PY pax with connections then went down the line. Dreamliner took 70min to deplane. A 777 would have taken 90.

​​​​​

CanadianMike

Are the customs delays predictable based on time of day / day of week at all?
ie) do they increase staff appropriately (within their abilities) to meet demand?

Flying back SJO - YYZ on Monday and hoping it isn't as bad as photos / reports have appeared to be lately ...

Utskicat

Seems to have no reason. There were reports of T3 arrivals here on Sat Apr 9 of holding pax upstairs and even on planes. I flew home with the whole family exact same time 1 week later (5p Sat Apr 16) and no holds up stairs. Lines in main hall looked longish but not terrible. We were able to go straight to NEXUS lane and still had to wait 20 mins for baggage we were so early to belts. By the time bags came there were a decent collection of people from our full MCO flight so it must not have been too bad. 2 separate people that saw us on the plane and were much closer to the front asked how we got through so fast. I told them nexus is worth it’s weight in gold even for the kids. The prob in T3 of late has been that if they are holding folks upstairs prior to escalators then you can’t get to nexus lanes until allowed downstairs. I fly frequently in J on AF YYZ—CDG enough that the YYZ AF/KL station manger recognizes me. Twice she has greeted the flight during these long lines and I have asked her to help me get downstairs to the always open nexus lanes and she has warmly escorted me. On 2 other occasions I have asked the contract security folks managing the lines upstairs and they have not allowed Nexus members to pass which is honestly ridiculous as it would help make the lines upstairs shorter…I have never seen or heard of a line at nexus kiosks during last 2 years. More info than you asked about, but that’s my experience.

Utskicat

Also, you need to clarify if you are asking about T1 (AC/Star) or T3 (WS/Skyteam/almost everyone else).