Travellers passing through some Canadian airports may experience delays going through customs due to a system outage impacting inspection kiosks.
“Earlier this afternoon, the Canada Border Services Agency began experiencing a system outage affecting primary inspection kiosks at multiple Canadian international airports,” a CBSA spokesperson told CBC News.
“This outage was caused by an unforeseen technical issue during routine systems maintenance and we are working to restore connectivity as quickly as possible,” they said through an email statement on Sunday.
Trudeau International Airport in Montreal, Toronto’s Pearson International Airport and Calgary International Airport are some of the major Canadian airports that have warned passengers on social media they may experience longer than normal wait times at customs.
A spokesperson for Vancouver International Airport told CBC News the outage is impacting kiosks there too, but aside from “slightly longer than normal” customs clearance times, it said there are no major operational impacts.
Travellers are being redirected to primary inspection lines for manual processing, according to the CBSA.
The CBSA spokesperson said the border agency is working closely with airport management to expedite traveller processing, minimize delays and complete verifications as required.
“Safety and security standards are upheld at all times, with border services officers working to verify travellers’ identities, receive their declarations and conduct any additional screening warranted by each traveller’s individual circumstances,” the CBSA said.
“We thank travellers and stakeholders for their co-operation and apologize for any inconvenience.”
‘Frustration’ for travellers
Eric Tordjman is one traveller who got stuck in Calgary due to the outage. He said he missed two flights on Sunday while attempting to return home to Toronto. “Everyone’s just telling us just to be patient,” he told CBC News.
Tordjman said he initially had a boarding pass, but it was “revoked” after changing to an earlier flight. He wasn’t able to get a boarding pass for his new flight due to the kiosk outage, noting “a technical glitch is causing a lot of frustration.”
He eventually caught a later flight home Sunday night. Had he missed it, he was told he would need to sleep overnight in the airport or pay out of his own pocket for a hotel.
If the problems continue through Monday morning, he expects airport chaos.
This isn’t the first time a Canada-wide kiosk outage has impacted travellers. Outages in April and June also caused delays in some major Canadian airports.
