Another outage impacting traveller systems at Canadian airports occurred Friday (Dec. 19), according to the Canada Border Service Agency (CBSA)
Like previous outages, the disruption impacted passport inspection kiosks, also referred to as e-gates, which are used to verify identity and submit customs declarations.
When the system goes offline, it can result in long delays for arriving travellers into Canada.
Toronto Pearson airport confirmed that it was experiencing system glitch Friday afternoon, shortly after 4 p.m., in a post to its X social media account.
The airport said CBSA’s Primary Inspection Kiosks in Terminals 1 and 3 were experiencing a service interruption.
READ MORE: CBSA probing passport kiosk outages at airports, rules out cyberattack
By approximately 5:40 p.m., the problem appeared to be resolved, though CBSA warned that flight delays were still expected.
“Travellers may continue to experience delays in the short term as we resume normal processing operations,” the agency wrote on X. “We thank travellers and commercial clients for their cooperation and apologize for any inconvenience experienced.”
CBSA officials did not state what airports were impacted. However, Montréal–Pierre Elliott Trudeau airport (YUL) may also have been affected, as the airport was reposting updates from the CBSA on X.
Friday’s disruption follows a series of recent outages affecting Canadian airports. Unfortunately, it occurred on what is typically one of the busiest travel days of the holiday season.
PAX was first made aware of today’s outage after a traveller, stuck in line at Toronto Pearson, emailed us to say they had been waiting in line at Canadian customs for more than an hour and a half.
The situation mirrors similar outages that occurred at Pearson in September when routine maintenance downed the passport kiosks.
Delays from that incident were also reported at Montreal, Toronto and Calgary airports.
Firsthand experience
PAX was among the hundreds—if not thousands—of travellers affected by an outage on Sept. 28 at YYZ.
After being held on our aircraft for two hours, and then facing an exceptionally long line at Canadian customs, where arrivals were processed manually, it took us nearly four hours total to exit the airport.
Not long after that incident, a second kiosk outage hit Toronto Pearson on Oct. 2.
“Not acceptable”
The disruptions are “not acceptable,” the head of Canada’s border agency told media in October.
“We do have legacy systems. We do have contingency plans. But it’s not acceptable that they go down,” said CBSA President Erin O’Gorman, as reported by CBC News.
Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree has meanwhile directed O’Gorman to provide a report outlining recent technology issues and their impact.
Ten Canadian airports currently use e-gates, which were first unveiled in 2017 in order to streamline arrivals.
The wave of kiosk outages that took place in the fall follow earlier incidents in April and June that similarly resulted in delays at major airports across the country.
The CBSA has clarified that the outages do not stem from a cyberattack.
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