Landing Ottawa via Toronto - where should do immigration procedures?

[rajesh1986]

Hi Friends,

If we have 1.5 hr transit in Toronto before landing in Ottawa, where we should do the Immigration procedures and documentation?

Is it the Toronto airport? Or Ottawa? Because we will have only very short period to catch the other flight.

Any Idea?

Thanks in advance.

 

[zohebshaikh]

Hi Friends,

If we have 1.5 hr transit in Toronto before landing in Ottawa, where we should do the Immigration procedures and documentation?

Is it the Toronto airport? Or Ottawa? Because we will have only very short period to catch the other flight.

Any Idea?

Thanks in advance.

Your landing process will be at your port of first entry (Toronto), you don't get to pick or choose. You will need to rebook the Ottawa leg with a gap of 4 hours (or more) so that you can peacefully complete the landing procedure (at Toronto) without anxiety about your next flight.

 

[microntek]

If you are travelling with AirCanada and you miss your connecting flight due to immigration, they will transfer you to the next available flight. However, I agree with zohebshaikh; you should be pro-active and rebook your connecting flight to a later one. 3-4 hours is the minimum amount of time you should expect spending in YYZ.

 

[rajesh1986]

Thanks for the reply. It helped me to decide the flight.

 

[Bs65]

As above immigration and customs formalities will be completed at Toronto so you probably already know but remember to collect your luggage for customs inspection in Toronto. Once complete you drop the luggage off at a connections desk for the onward flight to Ottawa.

 

[zohebshaikh]

As above immigration and customs formalities will be completed at Toronto so you probably already know but remember to collect your luggage for customs inspection in Toronto. Once complete you drop the luggage off at a connections desk for the onward flight to Ottawa.

will the international leg luggage allowance be available for the onward connecting flight too ?

under normal circumstances (non-immigrant) we book the luggage to final destination so the baggage allowance applies till destination. however, in this case of immigration if we check our baggage only till toronto (for example) while our ticket is booked all the way to the final province, how will the final leg to province (connecting after toronto) consider baggage allowance ?

 

[rajesh1986]

As above immigration and customs formalities will be completed at Toronto so you probably already know but remember to collect your luggage for customs inspection in Toronto. Once complete you drop the luggage off at a connections desk for the onward flight to Ottawa.

Hey it seems you are talking not about hand luggage.
It is a real hassle right ? Have you gone through such scenario?

I have other flight option but have to wait long transit in London to avoid Toronto.

 

[Bs65]

Hey it seems you are talking not about hand luggage.
It is a real hassle right ? Have you gone through such scenario?

I have other flight option but have to wait long transit in London to avoid Toronto.

Following from your other post re a 16 hr layover in London to be honest taking the Toronto route to connect to a flight to Ottawa will be 100 percent less hassle than staying overnight at London Heathrow where you have to board a bus which is not free to get to a hotel outside the airport perimeter. This could take as much as 30 minutes one way depending how many other hotel stops plus waiting time for the bus. You could of course take a taxi but as with many airports you would need to be prepared for excess cost.

And just to add to above you have the hassle of clearing UK immigration which depending on time of day can take a long time if not an EU citizen.

Whether you enter via Toronto or Ottawa as first POE the immigration formalities will be the same and dropping off your luggage at a connections desk is a simple process given your luggage would usually already be tagged through Toronto to Ottawa. Once you get to Ottawa you arrive on a domestic flight so you just collect your luggage and go. For immigration through Toronto you probably need to allow a minimum of 3 to 4 hours to make the connection.

As always regardless the advice above check with the airline.

 

[Bs65]

will the international leg luggage allowance be available for the onward connecting flight too ?

under normal circumstances (non-immigrant) we book the luggage to final destination so the baggage allowance applies till destination. however, in this case of immigration if we check our baggage only till toronto (for example) while our ticket is booked all the way to the final province, how will the final leg to province (connecting after toronto) consider baggage allowance ?

Provided you have a through ticket to your final destination your luggage allowance applies all the way and at checkin in your home country the agent should tag your bags through to final destination. All bags regardless would be offloaded at the first POE into Canada for immigration/customs, once cleared the passenger then drops off at a connections desk for the final sector. Process has nothing to do with being an immigrant or non immigrant and is pretty common when entering any country where the initial POE is not the final destination in a country.

Only if you have separate tickets for the international leg and checkin separately for the domestic could domestic luggage rules apply for the domestic sector.

As always though regardless the advice above check with the airline not a forum.

 

[zohebshaikh]

Provided you have a through ticket to your final destination your luggage allowance applies all the way and at checkin in your home country the agent should tag your bags through to final destination. All bags regardless would be offloaded at the first POE into Canada for immigration/customs, once cleared the passenger then drops off at a connections desk for the final sector. Process has nothing to do with being an immigrant or non immigrant and is pretty common when entering any country where the initial POE is not the final destination in a country.

Only if you have separate tickets for the international leg and checkin separately for the domestic could domestic luggage rules apply for the domestic sector.

As always though regardless the advice above check with the airline not a forum.

thank you for the detailed explanation !