Landing at Toronto Pearson International Airport - Some TIPS

[shariq123]

Hi,

So I'm sure everybody must've read up on many landing experiences here on this forum. Mine isn't much different but I just wanted to share some tips for those who would be landing in the near future. Hopefully this might help them.

Landing from: Paris
Landed to: Toronto Pearson International Airport

• Arrived on Friday at roughly about 4:30pm.
• Ok, so I just want to give a heads up that if you don't receive a declaration card on the airplane, don't panic. I was told by AirFrance that airlines now no longer give out declaration cards for Canada.
• Once disembarked, I proceeded to the immigration section where it was literally jam packed with people. but before your immigration, you'll be asked to go to a computer operated Kiosk where you will scan your passport, fill out details like where are you coming from, purpose of visit etc etc and then some questions will be asked like are you carrying currency with value more than 10k CAD etc. Once you fill out all those details, the kiosk will take your picture and upon completion a declaration slip will be printed out with your picture on it. If you're with family, every individual will be asked to scan their passport and get their pictures taken.

TIP # 1: If you're with family, once you scan your own passport the kiosk will move up and down adjusting to your height in order to take the photo. Once the picture has been taken, the kiosk will move down and while moving down, the screen will be showing to scan the next person's passport. Please LET the kiosk come down fully before you scan your wife's/husband's/son's/daughter's passport. Do NOT scan the passport while the kiosk is moving. The passport would be scanned but the picture will not be taken. We had to go through many tries to understand this. The officers are very busy and will not help you if there is massive rush like we had.

TIP # 2: There is a question that asks whether you are traveling with unaccompanied goods. If you have goods to follow, please answer YES to this question. I remember on this page, answers to all other questions were NO so it is very easy for you to misread the unaccompanied goods question and answer NO to it as well. Read every question carefully.

• Once the declaration slip has been printed, proceed to the immigration counter. Tell the officer that you are here for first time landing as PR. The officer will take your declaration slip and make a Z with a highlighter. I'm not sure if everyone who's here for a first time landing gets a Z, but my officer made a Z on my declaration slip with a highlighter.
  
• Take that slip, proceed to the baggage hall but you will be stopped by an officer and you will be directed to a hall. Join the queue (I had to wait almost 45-50 minutes for my turn as the line was huge). If you are with family, you can have your family sit at the back chairs, while you wait in line for your turn. They have seating arrangements for around 50-70 people.
  
• At your turn, give the officer your COPRs and Passport. My officer did not ask me anything about proof of funds or requested me to show any other document. He just asked for a Canadian address for PR delivery and if I planned to stay for 2-3 months given that the PR card takes about 2 months. I said I will be staying so he said that's fine but if you want to leave, you'll need to contact the canadian embassy and get a travel document to come back. Since I was with family, he asked me to go and have a seat and he'd call us when he's done with the processing of the documents. After about 15 minutes, there was an announcement on the system with my family name asking to report to counter X. The officer asked all of us to sign at 3 places on both the COPRs and once we were done, he explained us that basically we need to spend 2/5 years to be able to renew PRs and 3/4 years to become Canadian citizens. He gave all of us are copy of the COPRs and said, "Welcome to Canada"
• Proceed to the baggage area but before that you will encounter a Service Canada counter. Here you can get your SIN made. By the time I arrived at this counter, it was already about 6:30pm if I'm not wrong and there were about 30 people in front of me. So an officer told me that it's fruitless to stay here as you will not get a chance to get your SIN made. He told me to go to any Service Canada office in Toronto and get my SIN. So I never got my SIN made at the airport but got it done later in downtown Toronto. Took hardly 10 minutes to get my SIN. It's simply a paper document with your SIN number.

TIP # 3: Try to arrange your flight such that you arrive in the morning around 8ish. I arrived at 4:30pm and one officer told me this is peak rush time. This is why I could not get my SIN made at the airport as by the time I got there, it was very late and the office probably closes at 8pm.

• Once you've collected your baggage, head towards the exit where an officer will direct you to customs. Have your Goods to Follow List ready with high quality colored pictures of jewellery if you plan on bringing those later. Once your turn comes, give the officer the Goods to Follow List. The officer will look at the list, ask you about whether you are carrying more than 10k CAD and some other basic stuff. If the officer is happy with your list as she was in my case, she will start incorporating the details into her system. I was lucky that my baggage wasn't opened but be ready that they can ask you to open the baggage. Everyone's luggage around me was being opened except mine so I was very relieved. Not that I had anything in my bags that could have worried me but it would've added another hour there. We were already pretty exhausted. Anyways, once the officer is done with incorporating the details in the system, the officer will stamp each and every page of your Goods to Follow list. Make sure that every page is stamped. The officer will then direct you to a cashier where the cashier will give you a printed receipt. Show that to the officer and you are done with your landing.

TIP # 4: When the customs officer is incorporating your details in the system, you can actually see the system and what the officer is inputting. So please pay close attention to that. In my case the officer mistakenly missed a letter of my name and entered the wrong country. But because I was looking, I pointed out the mistake. The officer was actually happy about me pointing out the error. So keep an eye on it.

TIP # 5: If you have a family, please tell the customs officer to incorporate both YOU and your SPOUSE in the Goods to Follow List in the system. This is because if only your name is entered in the system, then later on your spouse won't be able to bring in the goods duty free. When my officer was entering only my name in the system, I asked her if later on my wife were to bring these goods, would she be charged? She said that if you are not mentioning her name in the system then yes she would be charged. So like i said, tell your officer to have the Goods named after you and your spouse.

• Welcome to Canada!!!!

A long post but hopefully this helps people landing in the near future. And pardon me if I made some grammatical or spelling mistakes. Wrote this really quick.

 

[ContactFront]

Congrats!

 

[maged_mmh]

Thank you

 

[Ghosty]

Thank you so much for the tips, and tricks, it's appreciated.

Congratulations, and welcome home!

 

[shariq123]

You're welcome guys!!

 

[summerxx]

Thank you so much for sharing.

 

[northern sunshine]

Thank you for sharing your experience! I have a couple questions regarding what you said, if you're able to answer:

1. Can I ask for some clarification on "unaccompanied goods"? When you say to mark "YES" to unaccompanied goods, is this because your "goods to follow" are being shipped independently-- i.e., you will not be accompanying them into the country-- or just because they are not with you presently at the time of landing? For example, if I were personally bringing all of my items into the country myself at a later date, but had nothing with me at landing, would that still be considered "unaccompanied goods" at the time of my landing?
2. I've been wondering this for a while, and it's probably a dumb question, but... does the $10k CAD declaration apply to bank accounts? For example, if I only bring $300 CAD in cash with me, but I have $20k accessible in a foreign bank account, do I have to declare what's in the bank?
3. Was there anything that was totally different from what you were expecting?

 

[lampbreaker]

I've been wondering this for a while, and it's probably a dumb question, but... does the $10k CAD declaration apply to bank accounts? For example, if I only bring $300 CAD in cash with me, but I have $20k accessible in a foreign bank account, do I have to declare what's in the bank?

No, only cash or cash equivalents over 10k need to be declared. This has nothing to do with PR, everybody has to declare these.

 

[hemanthsamayam]

Congrats!!!

 

[shariq123]

Thank you for sharing your experience! I have a couple questions regarding what you said, if you're able to answer:

1. Can I ask for some clarification on "unaccompanied goods"? When you say to mark "YES" to unaccompanied goods, is this because your "goods to follow" are being shipped independently-- i.e., you will not be accompanying them into the country-- or just because they are not with you presently at the time of landing? For example, if I were personally bringing all of my items into the country myself at a later date, but had nothing with me at landing, would that still be considered "unaccompanied goods" at the time of my landing?
2. I've been wondering this for a while, and it's probably a dumb question, but... does the $10k CAD declaration apply to bank accounts? For example, if I only bring $300 CAD in cash with me, but I have $20k accessible in a foreign bank account, do I have to declare what's in the bank?
3. Was there anything that was totally different from what you were expecting?

1. Treat your Goods to Follow List as "Unaccompanied Goods". So the goods that are not with you at the time of landing and you write them on the Goods to Follow List which you intend to bring on later (doesn't matter if it's through cargo shipping or through bringing it in your personal luggage) are all Unaccompanied Goods. That's why you answer YES to that question.

2. No. Only the cash and cash equivalents that you are carrying with you at that time.

3. No. not really. Posters on this forum had given a good account of what to expect at landing. No surprise elements for me at least.

 

[dodogirl]

What is a Goods to Follow list? Say i have an iron (just example) in my suitcase, where should i mention this?

 

[arthurbr]

What is a Goods to Follow list? Say i have an iron (just example) in my suitcase, where should i mention this?

If it is with you, it goes under "goods accompanying". The "goods to follow" list is for things that are coming later.

 

[dodogirl]

Ok, thank you.

 

[DesdemonaBob]

Hi,

So I'm sure everybody must've read up on many landing experiences here on this forum. Mine isn't much different but I just wanted to share some tips for those who would be landing in the near future. Hopefully this might help them.

Landing from: Paris
Landed to: Toronto Pearson International Airport

• Arrived on Friday at roughly about 4:30pm.
• Ok, so I just want to give a heads up that if you don't receive a declaration card on the airplane, don't panic. I was told by AirFrance that airlines now no longer give out declaration cards for Canada.
• Once disembarked, I proceeded to the immigration section where it was literally jam packed with people. but before your immigration, you'll be asked to go to a computer operated Kiosk where you will scan your passport, fill out details like where are you coming from, purpose of visit etc etc and then some questions will be asked like are you carrying currency with value more than 10k CAD etc. Once you fill out all those details, the kiosk will take your picture and upon completion a declaration slip will be printed out with your picture on it. If you're with family, every individual will be asked to scan their passport and get their pictures taken.

TIP # 1: If you're with family, once you scan your own passport the kiosk will move up and down adjusting to your height in order to take the photo. Once the picture has been taken, the kiosk will move down and while moving down, the screen will be showing to scan the next person's passport. Please LET the kiosk come down fully before you scan your wife's/husband's/son's/daughter's passport. Do NOT scan the passport while the kiosk is moving. The passport would be scanned but the picture will not be taken. We had to go through many tries to understand this. The officers are very busy and will not help you if there is massive rush like we had.

TIP # 2: There is a question that asks whether you are traveling with unaccompanied goods. If you have goods to follow, please answer YES to this question. I remember on this page, answers to all other questions were NO so it is very easy for you to misread the unaccompanied goods question and answer NO to it as well. Read every question carefully.

• Once the declaration slip has been printed, proceed to the immigration counter. Tell the officer that you are here for first time landing as PR. The officer will take your declaration slip and make a Z with a highlighter. I'm not sure if everyone who's here for a first time landing gets a Z, but my officer made a Z on my declaration slip with a highlighter.
  
• Take that slip, proceed to the baggage hall but you will be stopped by an officer and you will be directed to a hall. Join the queue (I had to wait almost 45-50 minutes for my turn as the line was huge). If you are with family, you can have your family sit at the back chairs, while you wait in line for your turn. They have seating arrangements for around 50-70 people.
  
• At your turn, give the officer your COPRs and Passport. My officer did not ask me anything about proof of funds or requested me to show any other document. He just asked for a Canadian address for PR delivery and if I planned to stay for 2-3 months given that the PR card takes about 2 months. I said I will be staying so he said that's fine but if you want to leave, you'll need to contact the canadian embassy and get a travel document to come back. Since I was with family, he asked me to go and have a seat and he'd call us when he's done with the processing of the documents. After about 15 minutes, there was an announcement on the system with my family name asking to report to counter X. The officer asked all of us to sign at 3 places on both the COPRs and once we were done, he explained us that basically we need to spend 2/5 years to be able to renew PRs and 3/4 years to become Canadian citizens. He gave all of us are copy of the COPRs and said, "Welcome to Canada"
• Proceed to the baggage area but before that you will encounter a Service Canada counter. Here you can get your SIN made. By the time I arrived at this counter, it was already about 6:30pm if I'm not wrong and there were about 30 people in front of me. So an officer told me that it's fruitless to stay here as you will not get a chance to get your SIN made. He told me to go to any Service Canada office in Toronto and get my SIN. So I never got my SIN made at the airport but got it done later in downtown Toronto. Took hardly 10 minutes to get my SIN. It's simply a paper document with your SIN number.

TIP # 3: Try to arrange your flight such that you arrive in the morning around 8ish. I arrived at 4:30pm and one officer told me this is peak rush time. This is why I could not get my SIN made at the airport as by the time I got there, it was very late and the office probably closes at 8pm.

• Once you've collected your baggage, head towards the exit where an officer will direct you to customs. Have your Goods to Follow List ready with high quality colored pictures of jewellery if you plan on bringing those later. Once your turn comes, give the officer the Goods to Follow List. The officer will look at the list, ask you about whether you are carrying more than 10k CAD and some other basic stuff. If the officer is happy with your list as she was in my case, she will start incorporating the details into her system. I was lucky that my baggage wasn't opened but be ready that they can ask you to open the baggage. Everyone's luggage around me was being opened except mine so I was very relieved. Not that I had anything in my bags that could have worried me but it would've added another hour there. We were already pretty exhausted. Anyways, once the officer is done with incorporating the details in the system, the officer will stamp each and every page of your Goods to Follow list. Make sure that every page is stamped. The officer will then direct you to a cashier where the cashier will give you a printed receipt. Show that to the officer and you are done with your landing.

TIP # 4: When the customs officer is incorporating your details in the system, you can actually see the system and what the officer is inputting. So please pay close attention to that. In my case the officer mistakenly missed a letter of my name and entered the wrong country. But because I was looking, I pointed out the mistake. The officer was actually happy about me pointing out the error. So keep an eye on it.

TIP # 5: If you have a family, please tell the customs officer to incorporate both YOU and your SPOUSE in the Goods to Follow List in the system. This is because if only your name is entered in the system, then later on your spouse won't be able to bring in the goods duty free. When my officer was entering only my name in the system, I asked her if later on my wife were to bring these goods, would she be charged? She said that if you are not mentioning her name in the system then yes she would be charged. So like i said, tell your officer to have the Goods named after you and your spouse.

• Welcome to Canada!!!!

A long post but hopefully this helps people landing in the near future. And pardon me if I made some grammatical or spelling mistakes. Wrote this really quick.

Hi! Welcome to Canada!

One quick question, how long took you to receive the PRs after the landing?

Thanks in advance!

 

[tuhadapeo]

Reading this in 2019. Still very helpful especially Tip #4. Thank you for sharing.