The Government of Canada says it continues to work with industry partners to reduce wait times and congestion at Canadian airports.
"We are making progress, but challenges remain. A significant number of travellers continue to face travel delays, flight cancellations and issues with airport check-in and baggage services. We continue to take action with air industry partners to reduce the delays in the travel system and update Canadians on our progress," the government said in a statement.
"From too many flights, to not enough staff, there is no single reason for these delays - but the Government of Canada and air industry partners continue to make significant efforts to add resources and streamline processes to ease congestion and help keep travellers moving," the statement added.
On Monday, Minister Alghabra met with the CEO of Air Canada to discuss current and planned actions being taken by the airline to quickly "bring on more employees and to bolster core operations" to better respond to rapidly increasing demand. This followed similar meetings with the CEOs of the Greater Toronto Airports Authority and WestJet last week.
According to the government, June 2022 air departure traffic in Canada was 58 times higher than it was in spring 2020. "In comparison, global travel volumes are up more than eight times since the low point during the pandemic, and airports across the world are feeling the impact," it stated.
The government says actions being taken include:
-- A new information resource from the Canadian Transportation Agency is designed to help passengers experiencing flight cancellations, delays or lost luggage issues during their travel.
-- Since April, close to 1,200 CATSA screening officers have been hired across Canada. With this, the number of screening officers at YYZ and YVR are now over 100% of the targeted requirements for this summer based on projected traffic.
-- On June 25, Prime Minister Trudeau announced the creation of a new task force to improve the processing of passports and immigration applications, as well as to monitor the situation at Canadian airports.
-- The Canadian Border Services Agency is maximizing officer availability and additional Student Border Services Officers are now at work. The Greater Toronto Airports Authority is working with CBSA to make available additional kiosks and eGates at Toronto Pearson International Airport customs hall areas.
-- Mandatory random COVID-19 testing will remain temporarily suspended at all airports, for travellers who qualify as fully vaccinated, until mid-July, when the random testing will return, and tests will be completed outside of the airports.
-- CBSA and PHAC streamlined the process to identify travellers who are required to undergo testing at Toronto Pearson.
-- Travellers arriving at YYZ and YVR can now save time by using the Advance Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) Declaration optional feature in ArriveCAN to submit their customs and immigration declaration in advance of arrival. The government says early usage data suggests that it is 30 percent faster at the kiosk when travellers use ArriveCAN to declare in advance instead of paper. The option will be expanded to other airports in the future, including Montréal-Trudeau International Airport this summer.
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