If you are not a Canadian citizen, and you are traveling to Canada by air, and landing in Toronto, here are some tips and resources for you! (You may also wish to read over “If you are planning to make a refugee claim at the airport in Canada“)
DO
Before flying to Canada
- Tell a friend or family member in Canada when you are coming, so someone is aware if you don’t make contact
- Make good-quality scans of all your important documents, and save them to a cloud platform or send them to someone you trust
- You may be asked to answer questions without access to an electronic device (because it has been seized, or you do not have signal or power), so please, carry with you hardcopies of:
- Your visa or immigration application or eTA
- Any arrangements you have made for your stay (flights, hotels, events, invitation letters, etc)
- Contact information for friends, family, or associates in Canada
- Do not destroy any travel documents – real or false – before arrival
Upon arrival
- Don’t be nervous about being questioned by Canada Border Services Agency
- Tell them if you need an interpreter, and what specific language and dialect interpreter you need – if at any point you do not understand the interpreter, you must say so!
- Try to be pleasant, patient, and cooperative, but know your rights and insist on them
- Ask to be allowed to recover your luggage, or have CBSA recover your luggage
- If you would be more comfortable, ask to be interviewed by an officer of the same sex/gender
- Expect to wait a long time for your identity to be verified and the paperwork to be done
- Tell the officials if you are hungry, thirsty, have to use the washroom or have any medical needs
- Tell the truth about who you know in Canada and who you plan to stay with (if anyone)
- Be very clear about names and family relationships – terms like “aunt”/”uncle” and “brother”/”sister” do not always translate properly
- Be honest – but also explain that you do not know the answer if you do not know – when asked about how you traveled to Canada, what documents were used, and how arrangements were made
DON’T
- Be intimidated by CBSA uniforms
- Lie to CBSA officials
- Try to bribe CBSA officials – this is a serious crime in Canada
- Destroy identity documents
- Take advice from interpreters (unless they are interpreting for a lawyer or other authorized representative) or human smugglers
- Agree that information is correct when it isn’t
- Give incomplete answers in order to try to make the process faster or more simple
- Say that you understand an interpreter when you don’t
- Sign anything you don’t understand
Resources
- Customs and immigration information from the Toronto Pearson airport website
- Information about the Advance Declaration program, which is available at some airports in Canada (Vancouver International Airport (YVR); Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ) (Terminals 1 and 3); Montréal-Trudeau International Airport (YUL); Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport (YWG); Halifax Stanfield International Airport (YHZ); Québec City Jean Lesage International Airport (YQB); Calgary International Airport (YYC); Ottawa International Airport (YOW); Edmonton International Airport (YEG); Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport (YTZ))
