dbd33

I've been through that. At first glance I thought it was like Gatwick, all automated, but it's not automated at all, it's actually less efficient than the cardboard because you could fill in the cardboard form on the plane, now you have to wait 40 minutes to use a machine that's effectively just a typewriter, you still have the paper to present and you have to queue a second time to hand the paper to someone. As you queue there are hordes of handlers who speak neither English nor French shooing you about like brain damaged sheep dogs.

As you note, there's still the impracticality of having to put the document in your mouth but now it's thin paper, like from a till, so it's less absorbent. The experience is worse and the document more slimy. I think the Canadian customs and immigration people are having a laugh at us passengers; deliberately doing things arse backwards. Surely there must be some officials who've been to an airport in another country and seen how these things should be done.

scrubbedexpat091

I don't mind the kiosks when they are all working as they should. When I flew to Dallas in April, the kiosks for US departures were all down, and of course since they rely heavily on kiosks now they have less officers working, only 4 officers in total processing 3 for the line where the kiosks clears you and 1 officer at the line people with Visa's and those the kiosk did not clear had to go and a few in the secondary area and their office area.

My flight was at 6am and I got the the airport at 3:40am and got in line for security,opens around 4, got through security around 4:20 am and then had to wait as US customs doesn't open until 4:30am, but the kiosks were down, didn't get through US customs until 5:45am and barely made the flight.

Learned my lesson, when flying to the US in the morning always eat breakfast before getting in line for security and US customs as delays through US Customs could result in not being able to eat before the flight and you end up a bit hungry.

miss_mp

Thanks CanadaJimmy for checking this. I'll be flying with AirTransat, and I think with them, we would need to pick up our luggage at Toronto whether you fly on or not - not so convenient if you are flying on from there. But luckily also in my situation that I can pick up my luggage, which is a life-saver.

miss_mp

Doesn't sound very efficient this new system, especially if you have all your luggage you have to collect to push around with you. Must make things tight for time for those with connecting flights with all that queuing.

dbd33

Quite. Terrible facilities, lack of organization, the Canadian love of bureaucracy and bossiness, awful immigration systems, the Toronto airport always seems a miserable cock up compared with Gatwick. There's always some shrill older woman in Air Canada frumpery shouting hoarsely that it's not her fault that the baggage conveyer's broken again (not the same one, of course, AC has lots of them). Imagine if you arrived from a new high tech place like, say, Istanbul, what a bunch of peasants the airport and customs staff here would seem.

Buffalo has a nice airport. So, to be fair, does Vancouver, as long as you don't want to eat.

miss_mp

It wasn't too bad the last time I arrived into Pearson, though i think the novelty of my first arrival probably clouded my judgement, and I was oblivious to my new surroundings. If I remember correctly, when I went through to get my COPR signed, there weren't too many staff around (think it was either the weekend or a public holiday), a bit of an anti-climax. Think i was expecting there to be more when you first land to confirm PR.

dbd33

Secondary processes such as landing as an immigrant do seem to go well. It's just the routine stuff; dealing with large numbers of people arriving at once, getting bags from plane to a known carousel, indicating the right carousel number, checking people and getting their bags to the plane, that don't seem well arranged. It's like every day is the first day at the Toronto Airport. Still, it's improving, they've recently added a transport link to Toronto!

beckiwoo

miss_mp

I guess if it's improving, that's a good sign. But I can imagine it to be pretty busy if there's a large number of passengers using Toronto as their stopover.

Siouxie

https://www.torontopearson.com/en/arrivals/guide

There's an e-Declaration app you can get for your phone (you still have to use the kiosks though - and get that bit of paper https://www.cbsa-asfc.gc.ca/travel-v...ation-eng.html

dbd33

Busy for Canada, yes.

miss_mp

Thanks for the link Siouxie I'll give the app a try when I get there. It looks like its getting a bit too high tech for me . Though it kind of defeats the purpose when you still have to queue and use the kiosks and paperwork - would be nice if it bypassed the need.

sun burnt in aus

Vancouver - about 3.5% unemployment and steady
Calgary - about 7% unemployment and going up

Vancouver is on the rising slope of the business cycle
Calgary is on the down slope of the business cycle

Vancouver - brutally expensive for housing
Calgary - very affordable by comparison

Vancouver - Medium length winters that are not so cold but it's a wet winter so the milder humid temps go straight to the bone
Calgary - Long winters that are very cold, but it's a dry cold and easy to fend off

Vancouver - Skying till 11pm just at the back of North Van
Calgary - Skying about 2 hours away

Vancouver - crowded, convoluted roads, harder to get around
Calgary - not nearly as crowded, very structure easy to get around roads

Vancouver - Pretty snobbish and complain a lot, the heart of not in my backyard country
Calgary - People come across as more positive and upbeat and live and let live

We're leaving Queensland and heading to Canada and at the moment Alberta is our choice. In Alberta we will be able to own the house outright with a couple garages and have some distance from the neighbours if we sell here, and have many thousands left over. Or if we keep the house here, the rent will cover well over 3/4 of the mortgage. Vancouver, renting a 1 bedroom condo will cost more than a mortgage for a 4 bed house in Edmonton or Calgary. I truly don't know how anyone with a normal wage can afford to live in Vancouver.

The only caveat to Alberta is the different spots on the business cycle that they both occupy. I have a brother in-law that is going to hand me a job anywhere in BC or Alberta that I choose (I think his wife has said do whatever it takes to get us to Canada, or you're sleeping on the couch for the rest of your life LOL) so I will be pretty immune to labour issues gripping Alberta. So for me it's an easy choice - Alberta. But if you have a job that's sensitive to such swings in the economy (building or oil and gas), you'll need to think hard about it.

Your Mileage May Vary

Siouxie

If you had read the rest of the thread you would have found out that the OP has decided to remain in Ontario, to meet the PNP requirements... always good to get other viewpoints though..

miss_mp

Thanks for your thoughts on this sun burnt in oz, much appreciated. Yeah i've decided in the end to head back to Toronto as I'm an Ontario PNP. Toronto is a bit of a busy city for me, though lots going on, so I'll look for somewhere else outside of Toronto that's also less expensive. So much to think about when moving and considering where to stay.