Customs/Immigration when flying to Canada?

[msmayor]

Husband and I will be flying from Philadelphia --> Toronto --> Vancouver in October on Air Canada.  The ticket is on one locator, and we have almost four hours in Toronto before scheduled departure to Vancouver.

 

I've only flown internationally once...many, many years ago between Newark NJ and Bermuda so no intermediary stop.  Besides, I'm sure things have changed a lot since that flight.

 

At what point will we go through customs/immigration in Canada...when we land in Toronto?  I'm assuming since we are on one airline and locator, our bags will be checked through to Vancouver so we won't need to collect our bags (we will have checked luggage - 11 night cruise, can't do just carryon for that).  Would that mean customs in Vancouver for those bags?

 

Thanks in advance for any advice.

[Zach1213]

You will clear Canadian immigration AND customs in Toronto, as it's your first stop in Canada. There's no good way to separate you from domestic traffic on that domestic Toronto to Vancouver leg...kinda like there's no good way to separate people just flying Chicago to Seattle from people flying London to Chicago to Seattle, so everyone from London needs to clear immigration/customs in Chicago before getting on that domestic flight.

[waterbug123]

2 hours ago, msmayor said:

Husband and I will be flying from Philadelphia --> Toronto --> Vancouver in October on Air Canada. 

 

And looking further ahead where does your cruise end and what is the routing for your return flights home?  The usual rules for entering the US are a bit different if you are departing from Canada vs. departing from the US.  

[msmayor]

24 minutes ago, waterbug123 said:

 

And looking further ahead where does your cruise end and what is the routing for your return flights home?  The usual rules for entering the US are a bit different if you are departing from Canada vs. departing from the US.  

 

Cruise is 11-nights total with the first stop in Santa Barbara CA, so I know somewhere along the line (either at Canada Place before we depart or when we arrive in Santa Barbara) we'll need to clear US Customs.  Then on to Mexico, and back to San Diego where we'll clear US customs again and fly home.

 

 

[waterbug123]

1 hour ago, msmayor said:

 

Cruise is 11-nights total with the first stop in Santa Barbara CA, so I know somewhere along the line (either at Canada Place before we depart or when we arrive in Santa Barbara) we'll need to clear US Customs.  Then on to Mexico, and back to San Diego where we'll clear US customs again and fly home.

 

 

 

I originally asked because I though you might be flying home to the US Vancouver and as I mentioned US immigration & customs is done differently if arriving directly from Canada vs., say, arriving from Europe.  But your flight home is strictly domestic so my original question doesn't matter.

But, if Santa Barbara is the first stop after leaving Canada, then yes I believe you'll clear US customs at Canada Place before departure; if not then you would clear in the morning before the ship is cleared for pax to go ashore in Santa Barbara.  However, since you then go to Mexico and then arrive in San Diego after that, I think you'll have to clear US customs again upon arrival in San Diego.   I've never done a cruise that goes from foreign country to US to foreign country again to US again again, so someone can correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[Zach1213]

19 minutes ago, waterbug123 said:

 

I originally asked because I though you might be flying home to the US Vancouver and as I mentioned US immigration & customs is done differently if arriving directly from Canada vs., say, arriving from Europe. 

 

 

Well, usually. There are some airports in Canada that have nonstop flights to the US without pre-clearance. YQB, for example, doesn't have pre-clearance so you arrive in to the US in the same way you would if you were flying from London or Tokyo or somewhere. I think there are a few other (admittedly small) ones too.

 

(I know Toronto and Vancouver were being discussed, and they both have it, but for others who may read and assume Canada as a whole has pre-clearance for US-bound flights, there are some exceptions.)

[FlyerTalker]

Regina is another non pre clearance airport.

[Zach1213]

2 hours ago, FlyerTalker said:

Regina is another non pre clearance airport.

 

Out of curiosity, I had to look it up. The ones I can find that currently have nonstop US flights but no US preclearance are:

 

Quebec City

Regina

Saskatoon

Victoria

Kelowna

Abbotsford

Hamilton

Toronto City

 

And London (ON) appears to be having US nonstops starting later this year...oh, and Moncton and St. John's have seasonal US service. There may be more.

 

[cmich068]

You can see the specific transfer details here: https://www.aircanada.com/ca/en/aco/home/fly/at-the-airport/airport-information/toronto-pearson-international-airport/int-ca.html

 

If you are arriving on Air Canada and departing on Air Canada, you do not need to retrieve your bags at customs - just clear and go back through security to get to the domestic gates. 

 

This won't apply to you, but in case someone else finds this thread, if you arrive or depart Toronto on another airline, you may still need to retrieve your bags at customs and recheck them.  

[msmayor]

9 hours ago, cmich068 said:

You can see the specific transfer details here: https://www.aircanada.com/ca/en/aco/home/fly/at-the-airport/airport-information/toronto-pearson-international-airport/int-ca.html

 

If you are arriving on Air Canada and departing on Air Canada, you do not need to retrieve your bags at customs - just clear and go back through security to get to the domestic gates. 

 

This won't apply to you, but in case someone else finds this thread, if you arrive or depart Toronto on another airline, you may still need to retrieve your bags at customs and recheck them.  

 

Thank you - that link has some great information.

 

I didn't think we'd need to collect bags since we're on one locator and one carrier.  Very happy we have what I hope is plenty of time between flights to ensure we make the connection.

[cmich068]

Looking at that link again, don't know why it says anything about a bus. Pretty sure you will not be getting on one at any point but I could be wrong.

 

When Terminal 1 was built a decade or so ago, all connections from US to Canadian flights had to go through full customs and baggage retrieval, so I know implementing a more streamlined transfer process while dealing with existing physical constrants has been a bit of a challenge. 

Edited August 4, 2019 by cmich068

[YXU AC*SE]

There is a dedicated airside bus now that runs between international / transborder / domestic to speed up MCTs for transit pax. 

 

Scott.