Slowdowns at Canadian airports are “unacceptable” and are harming the country’s economy, Mississauga civic and business leaders said today. Speaking at a press conference at Toronto Pearson Airport, officials said the Trudeau government needs to take urgent action to address delays at Pearson and other airports. The speakers said Ottawa needs to dump random COVID-19 testing at Canadian airports, and also needs to eliminate lengthy conversations between Canadian Borders Services Agency (customs workers) and arriving passengers. Doug Allingham, Chair of the Board of the Greater Toronto Airports Authority, said chats with custom officers have traditionally taken about 30 seconds per Read more
toronto. Pearson Airport
The Trudeau government says it’s adding more airport screening officers and customs workers to help ease congestion at Canada’s crowded airports. Senior federal ministers issued a statement late Friday to say that the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA) “has been working with its contractors to increase the number of screening officers at passenger screening checkpoints. Currently, there are approximately 400 additional screening officers in different phases of their training across the country who will be deployed between now and the end of June.” With Transport Canada’s support, “these recruits will benefit from progressing more quickly through a more flexible Read more
The Trudeau government is working hard on Canadian airport congestion problems, and an announcement is likely coming soon, Tourism Minister Randy Boissonnault said today. Speaking at a press conference at Rendez-vous Canada, a tourism session being put on by Destination Canada, Boissonnault said he’s been speaking daily with Transport Minister Omar Alghabra and other ministers about lineups at Toronto Pearson and other airports. “Minister Alghabra I think will have announcements on that,” he said. “We are very seized by this idea of increasing the number of agents we have at Canadian airports. And it’s not just airports. It’s the Great Read more
The head of the union for Canadian Customs workers says the Canadian government has steadily decreased the number of border employees over the years. They’re calling on the Trudeau government to increase workers at the border and ease logjams that are bedeviling passengers flying into Canadian airports. “As travelers arriving at Canada’s international airports continue to experience extensive delays, the National President of the Customs and Immigration Union (CIU) is calling upon the Minister of Public Safety and the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) to increase the number of border services officers assigned to passenger operations in Canadian airports and Read more
A well-known travel agents group is asking the Trudeau government to fix Canada’s airport mess. “As has been reported across nationally, travellers are experiencing significant delays at airport security and customs & immigration check points– and Canadians renewing passports in-person are experiencing day-long wait times, sometimes having to return day after day,” the Association of Canadian Travel Agencies said in a statement today. “These delays are caused by several factors, including labour shortages and increased administrative burdens due to legacy COVID-19 policies, as well as absenteeism.” Lineups have been particularly long at Toronto Pearson the last week or so. “Canada’s Read more
