customs at toronto canada airport

We booked our air through RCCL. On May 18th we leave O'Hare airport in Chicago and land at Toronto airport for the first leg of our journey to Van couver. We are flying Air Canada for both legs of the trip. Our flight lands in Toronto at 9:25 a.m and the connecting flight leaves at 11:00 a.m.

My question is; how long does it take to go through customs at Toronto airport? We have our passports. Our TA assured us this was enough time but I still worry. My TA has never been through customs at the Toronto airport.

You will have no problems with catching your connection.

I have always found that I get through customs in less than 15 minutes.

I think you'll find Toronto a breeze after coming from O'Hare.:D

thank you for the info soccerfan.

Canada customs is rather harmless and easy. One thing you might want to watch for. Sometimes they don't have enough bilingual officers and there line is usually a little longer (maybe a total of one to two people extra in line).

Also, in Canada, everyone who lives at the same home goes through customs on one declaration and together. The customs form has a space for each last name and each first name, since family names can vary (remember we have a lot of common-law relationships and many women don't take their husband's last name.)

If I remember correctly, you will have to pick up your luggage in Toronto and take it through to another drop of point on the other side of customs, where they will send it on to Vancouver. Remember that until that point, you are in a customs controlled area (ie you aren't legally in Canada). The Vancouver flight is domestic, therefore the luggage must clear customs.

It really went rather quickly the last time I went through Toronto. But I'm a Montrealer and therefore don't often connect in Toronto. I have connected at least twice through Toronto and it was quite painless.

One other note... don't bring any food with you, other than packaged food. They will have scent dogs looking for illegal food imports.

As long as you do not have any type of past criminal record, including DUI, you will have no problems. Canada is now denying entry to those with criminal past records. For those who do have a prior conviction (for the record a paid ticket for drunk a disorderly conduct charge is a conviction) you may want to check prior to going to Canada to see if you need to file for permission to enter Canada.

thanks for the info ephraim. I was wondering about our luggage and if we had to claim it before going on to our next gate. Neither of us have any past convictions of any kind; not even parking tickets. so that's not a worry for us.

You still have 6 weeks, so I would call Air Canada and see if they can re-route you on the 8am flight to Calgary, which gets into Vancouver at 1225pm and avoids flying east to go west, and avoids Toronto airport altogether. This is cruise line air for you LOL.

Pearson Connection Procedures:

http://www.aircanada.com/en/travelinfo/airport/yyz_usa.html

Having made connections to the US at Pearson many times(with Air Canada), I have found that the #1 delay is waiting for your luggage before proceeding through customs. My last trip through was in February, connecting to Ft Lauderdale. There was about a 35 minute wait for our luggage, which could have been disastrous had my connecting flight not been delayed. The process of being cleared by customs is usually very smooth if you have everything in order and with an hour an a half you should be fine.