Toronto Pearson asks feds to pause random COVID-19 testing to ease delays

By Lucas Casaletto

The Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA) says a temporary halt to random COVID-19 testing for travellers at Toronto Pearson could help with a recent surge in stressful delays.

The GTAA, which operates Toronto’s largest airport, is calling on the federal government to put the random COVID-19 testing program on hold as it anticipates an increase in international passenger traffic by around 50 per cent.

“In anticipation of a new wave of business and family travellers, we urge the government to act immediately to temporarily pause random testing on arrival in airports for an immediate improvement until upgrades to the Government’s ArriveCan app have been made,” GTAA officials said as part of a news release.

People travelling through Canadian airports have been experiencing long lines and flight delays as post-pandemic travel ramps up, particularly at Toronto Pearson airport.

“The stakes have never been higher, and the world is watching,” said Deborah Flint, President and Chief Executive Officer of the GTAA.

“We’re thankful for the steps the federal government has taken and their recognition that more needs to be done. This is about much more than Toronto Pearson; it’s about global perceptions of our country and the risk that Canada will lose billions of dollars from tourism and business activities if travellers decide that coming to Canada this summer isn’t worth the hassle.”

Nearly half a million passengers were held up after arriving aboard international flights at Toronto’s Pearson airport last month.

The GTAA says 490,810 travellers in May, or about half of all arrivals from abroad, faced delays as they were held inside their planes on the tarmac or faced staggered off-loading to ease pressure on overflowing customs areas.

Officials noted that there were 2,700 arriving flights affected by “metering or holding,” impacting the travel plans of over 490,000 international arriving passengers.

“Travellers are being further delayed because of the time it takes to select passengers for random testing.”

Federal ministers working on measures to end delays at airports

Hurdles ranging from airport staffing shortages to COVID-19 health measures threaten to cascade into a problem that overmatches efforts to drain clogged terminals.

Transport Minister Omar Alghabra says the federal government is working on new standards to help ease delays at major airports, adding that a “similar phenomenon” is happening worldwide.

Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino says the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) and the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority are hiring new staff, adding it’s crucial that airports also ensure they have enough employees.

“Since the low point of the pandemic, travel is up 700 or 800 per cent, in that range,” Mendicino said.

The Conservatives have been calling on the government to lift travel restrictions, which require anyone returning from outside the country to confirm their vaccination status, and end the use of the ArriveCan app and stop random COVID-19 testing at airports.

Currently, travellers using ArriveCAN must identify how they are entering Canada and where they are entering Canada (port of entry).

All travellers entering Canada by air, land, rail or marine vessel must use ArriveCAN unless you’re exempt from this requirement due to an accessibility need.


With files from The Canadian Press

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