Business leaders want pandemic restrictions scrapped at Toronto Pearson amid significant delays
A group of business leaders are calling on the federal government to remove pandemic restrictions at Toronto Pearson International Airport, which they say are contributing to the hours-long delays many travellers have faced in recent weeks.
The Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA) has warned travellers to show up at least two hours prior to their departure for domestic flights and three hours ahead of time for international flights as it deals with a myriad of issues that are causing long lineups at security and in the customs area.
It has suggested that staffing issues at the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority are causing intermittent delays in the pre-boarding security area at the airport. But it has also said that COVID-19 health checks, including random testing, is slowing down the processing times for inbound travellers clearing customs.
In some cases that has led to travellers being kept on their planes for hours while the backlog at the customs area is cleared.
"Over the past week alone more than 100,000 people, 50 per cent of travellers moving through Toronto Pearson, suffered extensive delays. International passengers are being forced to wait for up to three hours, sometimes inside the aircraft they flew in on because of longer processing times by customs officers. These challenges reflect staffing shortages and outdated pandemic policies that create unnecessary delays," Toronto Region Board of Trade President and CEO Jan De Silva said during a press conference on Thursday morning. "When the need was there we did the right thing and we protected travelers and our economy by putting new policies in place. But now to realize our potential we must act now to reduce the duplications, withdraw the restrictions that were put in place and fully reopen our economy."
Pearson International Airport is now seeing approximately 30,000 international arrivals each day as the travel industry gradually comes back to life following two years of pandemic restrictions.
The GTAA has also said that it expects the daily number of international arrivals at the airport to rise to 45,000 by this summer, potentially contributing to “unsustainable” further delays.
Speaking with reporters on Thursday, Tourism Industry of Ontario President and CEO Chris Bloore said that something needs to change before “we lose our international stature” and risk “depriving businesses of the money that they count on from international business travellers and tourists.”
“If you haven’t traveled I'm sure you've heard from a loved one or a friend about the terrible experience they have come to experience when visiting Pearson. Their travel experience will have a detrimental and lasting impact on how they may perceive traveling to Toronto and Canada on the international stage,” he warned. “Before the pandemic processing by government agencies at the airport took on average 30 seconds for arriving passengers, today it takes up to two minutes. These health checks happening at airports are obsolete and contribute to these never seen before wait times.”
OTHER AIRPORTS FACE DELAYS
Pearson International Airport is just one of several Canadian airports reporting significant delays as travel volumes pick back up.
On Wednesday federal Transport Minister Omar Alghabra told reporters that the Canada Airport Security Agency is increasing staffing in response, but he noted that with daily flights still at 70 per cent of their pre-pandemic level it is not likely the main reason behind the delays.
Instead, Alghabra suggested that out-of-practice travellers causing delays at security checkpoints could be a contributing factor.
For their part, the business leaders who spoke at Thursday’s press conference contended that the federal government needs to speed up processing times at airports.
"The time to act is now," Fairmont Royal York General Manager Edwin Frizzell said. “We are finally seeing positive signs in our sector and we cannot afford to have a controllable issue set us back even further as the summer season kicks off."
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Bird flu, measles top 2025 concerns for Canada's chief public health officer
As we enter 2025, Dr. Theresa Tam has her eye on H5N1 bird flu, an emerging virus that had its first human case in Canada this year.
DEVELOPING Body found in wheel well of plane at Maui airport
A person was found dead in the wheel well of a United Airlines flight to Maui on Tuesday.
Raised in Sask. after his family fled Hungary, this man spent decades spying on communists for the RCMP
As a Communist Party member in Calgary in the early 1940s, Frank Hadesbeck performed clerical work at the party office, printed leaflets and sold books.
Ottawa police identify victim of Christmas Day homicide in Hintonburg, charge suspect
The Ottawa Police Service says the victim who has been killed on Christmas Day in Hintonburg has been identified.
Christmas shooting at Phoenix airport leaves 3 people wounded
Police are investigating a Christmas shooting at Sky Harbor Airport in Phoenix that left three people injured by gunfire.
Ship remains stalled on St-Lawrence River north of Montreal
A ship that lost power on the St. Lawrence River on Christmas Eve, remains stationary north of Montreal.
Your kid is spending too much time on their phone. Here's what to do about it
Wondering what your teen is up to when you're not around? They are likely on YouTube, TikTok, Instagram or Snapchat, according to a new report.
Bird flu kills more than half the big cats at a Washington sanctuary
Bird flu has been on the rise in Washington state and one sanctuary was hit hard: 20 big cats – more than half of the facility’s population – died over the course of weeks.
6,000 inmates stage Christmas Day escape from high-security Mozambique prison
At least 6,000 inmates escaped from a high-security prison in Mozambique's capital on Christmas Day after a rebellion, the country's police chief said, as widespread post-election riots and violence continue to engulf the country.