How long does it take to get through immigration as a new PR?
 

Hi everybody. I’ve tried to find answers to this but it seems like such a niche question that my internet searching abilities are not up to standard.

when I arrive in Canada as a new PR I understand I have to go through a special process with my documentation to be registered as ‘arrived’ as a new PR (as opposed to a tourist on a waiver) at my port of entry.

How long does this process take?

I ask because I have a connecting flight from Toronto Pearson to my final destination and I’m wondering/worrying that I haven’t left myself enough time.

Thank you for any help or experience you can share.

Re: How long does it take to get through immigration as a new PR?
 

It's impossible to say as it depends on how many people are in the queue and how many agents are on duty at the time. Though Pearson is currently in the news as it's taking hours to even get to the initial border inspection point so I would say it might be wise to reschedule your connecting flight to the next day.

Re: How long does it take to get through immigration as a new PR?
 

Ok. Once I’m in the room though how long does it take it be processed? 5 minutes? 30? I have no idea what to expect. I’ll obviously have all my paperwork with me so I guess it should be a box ticking exercise? I’m trying to figure out how long that process takes specifically.

Re: How long does it take to get through immigration as a new PR?
 

It is an impossible question to answer. You haven't told us what time of day you will be arriving or how long before the connecting flight and if you need to change terminals on arrival. Pearson is an absolute nightmare at the moment though I am sure someone will chime in well I went through last week and it wasn't that bad.

In recent weeks, many travellers arriving in Toronto were not immediately greeted with the aircraft door opening upon reaching their gate. Instead, they were asked to sit still on the plane, with some passengers waiting up to 3 hours to deboard.

https://toronto.citynews.ca/2022/05/...-lines-delays/"International passengers are being forced to wait for up to three hours, sometimes inside the aircraft they flew in on, because of longer processing times by customs officers."

You haven't even told us what date you arrive? This weekend is a long weekend so more travellers. Next weekend normal.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toron...imes-1.6450780

Now then once in Immigration how long will that take? Again could be 10 minutes or a couple of hours.

Might as well ask the question there has been a bad accident on the M25 how bad will the lines up be?

Re: How long does it take to get through immigration as a new PR?
 

As has been said above: really depends on a lot of factors. This was my experience going through immigration at YYZ on April 3rd.
The kiosks that scan your passport or PR card were pretty busy but there were still a few available. It took me about 20 minutes to line up and fill out the form on the kiosk and be shown to the second immigration queue.
Immigration took about 40 minutes even though there were only 3 people in front of me. It was a deceptively short queue, but there was only one booth open for processing by CBSA. The CBSA officer was busy talking to somebody who insisted to pay for his transaction in cash and it took forever. She went along with him to a different room. At that point there was nobody left that processed incoming passengers for quite a while. Once another officer came back to the booth (After his lunch break perhaps? It was 1:30 pm) the line starting moving pretty quickly. Then another officer came back and called me up to the booth. Stamping the COPR and answering the questions only took about 10-15 minutes, I think. Then I still had to go through customs, but you may not need to do that yet. Customs took another 30 minutes. Then I got selected for the random Covid test, which took another 15 minutes.

Re: How long does it take to get through immigration as a new PR?
 

I have been processed twice as a COPR holder - once in 2010 and again in 2020 both at Toronto Pearson. After presenting to the CBSA officer the first time it took nearly an hour and there seemed to be almost a bit of ceremony to it all, lots of welcome info, new immigrant handouts, goody bags etc. The second time it took 10 mins and there was none of the foregoing. As previously stated a lot will depend on the time and the place of your landing.