Commonwealth—Passengers who travelled through several of Canada‘s busiest airports endured long delays after a system-wide breakdown that resulted from customs processing over the weekend. It is recognized by the Canada Border Services Agency that primary inspection kiosks at several international airports suffered an unexpected technical breakdown and that it harmed the movement of passengers into the country.
An unexpected technical issue halted connectivity on Sunday afternoon, during regular system maintenance. As a result, the electronic kiosks used in customs examination went offline, and border services officers had to manually carry out traveler checks. CBSA employees worked with airport management across the country to reboot the system and coordinate how to sustain the passenger flow without compromising standards of security and safety. Police officers continued to screen travel documents, take statements, and conduct additional screening where required, but without the kiosks, processing took longer than normal.
Toronto Pearson International Airport and Vancouver International Airport, two of Canada’s busiest international airports, posted the disruption on their official web pages and notified passengers to expect longer-than-usual wait times. There were no high-visibility operational halts, but Vancouver and other affected airport customs processing lagged, with delays propagating across terminals. International travelers suffered the most, as customs and immigration lines gradually grew throughout the day.
The shutdown created a challenging last third of the day for airline personnel and passengers alike. Airport personnel attempted to keep the increased congestion under control by announcing and directing passengers through, but as no kiosks were functioning, every part of the customs procedure was slower than usual. Passengers became frustrated with having to stand in lengthy lines with no idea how long it would take or even if they would catch their connecting flights.
A tourist in Calgary had already lost several flights attempting to return home to Toronto. Because he couldn’t get a boarding pass on a previous flight, he missed the first flight and couldn’t rebook or get a new pass via the defective system. Only after waiting for several hours and repeatedly attempting to use the broken procedure was he able to get on a subsequent flight. Others risk losing overnight accommodations at the airport or spending money on out-of-pocket hotel visits if they miss their connections.
Airport personnel and CBSA officials maintained complete security measures during the blackout. The officers kept on inspecting travelers and verifying identities according to normal procedure, while border security was never compromised as the technical staff worked to restore the kiosks to operation. There were some anecdotal accounts of recovery at various airports later Sunday night, but passengers were still being advised to allocate additional time to clear customs.
If the blackout carried over into Monday morning, airport officials threatened that starting the workweek would mean even more delays, with morning international flights adding to the passenger backlog. The CBSA said technicians were working late at night to resolve the technical issue and get the kiosks fully operational as soon as possible.
The collapse highlighted the dependency of modern border operations on automated systems and the problems that arise when these systems fail. While manual processing allowed customs operations to continue clandestinely, the delays highlighted the need for reliable backup systems so that interruptions to airport operations and passengers would not become extensive in the future.
