Immigration officers, eh? Bunch of c***s, the world over.

It's not even the interrogation. At YYZ at least, it's the bloody line-up in the arrival hall.

When you arrive after an 8 hour flight from Europe, the last thing you need is to shuffle at snail's pace back and forth through those bloody ribbon lined aisles left then right, left then right, surrounded by masses of stinking humanity and screaming kids for (on a bad day) over an hour.

Finally you reach some lackey who asks a couple of stupid questions which are none of his/her/the government's business and then proceed to get your baggage, which with a bit of luck has managed to find it's way from the plane to the baggage claim in the time you've wasted. Not always mind.

Now, I mentioned elsewhere that a combination of these new ABC machines and a fairly small throng of above-mentioned stinking humanity this last time was a big improvement, but basically whoever is responsible for all this chaos couldn't organize a piss up in a brewery.

I think yyz is a law unto itself
I cannot fathom air Canada's check in system which requires you to line up in order to use the self check in kiosks and then line up for twice as long to reach the "check in desk" whereby the process is exactly the same as if you hadn't spent 10 minutes lining up for the kiosk

Do you guys know what kind of interrogation non-EU citizens have to go through when entering the UK? It's actually humiliating. And you also have to queue for ages.
What you have to fill in on the form to enter Canada is nothing compared to that.

Now I rarely use Air Canada but I hear you. It's not as bad though because (a) you're going somewhere not trying to get home and (b) you've just had a smoke and can pop out for another one before lining up at security.

Since they have machines at YVR it's much quicker. They still have somebody officious asking inane questions about where you've been and why you were there as if it has anything to do with them, but at least there isn't a big queue any more.

I'll find out next time I go back when I use my Canadian passport for the first time.

I always have to queue at LHR . It's a shitty airport experience all round because it is so busy. I can't say if non-EU people get routinely humiliated or not because I only have anecdotal evidence from people I know. These are people who have indefinite leave to remain and they've never complained.

Still, it probably depends on your ethnicity and it wouldn't surprise me if south asian and african people get treated like shit - like they do at the majority of western airports.

Yep, I used to have an Indian/British friend who was regularly quizzed on the tube system and favourite shops. I will be going to Gatwick, am still uncertain about which passport I should be using so may just make it up as I go along.

I must be lucky. I've never had to wait more than just a couple of minutes at either LHR or Calgary.

Assuming you buy your tickets online in Canada, using Canadian ID, then use same to check-in but use your UK passport to enter at either LHR or Gatwick.

On the return journey just use the Canadian one at both ends.

This is perfectly OK unless you visit a farm, haven't sterilized your footwear or are carrying decent cheese..

I've entered the UK using a Canadian passport before. Yes on the line-ups, yes on the intrusive questions, but no on the paperwork.

I've had the farm inquisition before, I made the mistake of saying yes to the are you visiting a farm question. Do I look like someone who would travel with dirty shoes? Cheek of it.

Do you still beat your husband?

Do you?