Transborder arrival and departure experience at Montréal–Trudeau International Airport

This week, I took flights to and from Montréal via LaGuardia Airport. I had a trip to New York with friends that got cut short because of some late cancelations. Therefore, due to my proximity to Montréal, I booked last-minute plane tickets between LaGuardia Airport and Montréal–Trudeau.

Flights between major Canadian airports and American cities are called “transborder” flights. This is a term coined by Canadians. These flights have special treatment, namely because of how Canada has U.S. CBP preclearance facilities at eight major Canadian airports. In Canada, these flights get their own section in the airport. In the U.S., flights from preclearance airports back to the U.S. are treated as fully domestic arrivals.

Arrival experience

Unlike my first time arriving at Montréal–Trudeau in 2021, this time there were a lot more arriving passengers. What’s the difference between the two experiences? The former was during the COVID pandemic (right after Canada began allowing Americans into the country) and the latter is not!

When I got off the plane, I entered the upstairs corridor that led to the immigration facility. In the middle of it, before the restrooms, there was a small entrance that seems to be for going… back to the U.S. preclearance zone? I guess if you somehow had a ticket for another U.S. flight and didn’t have any checked bags, you could use this “secret” entry. (Unfortunately, Canadian airports are generally not built to support U.S.-to-U.S. transfers, due to cabotage laws.)

Anyway, that was not the case for me. I walked to immigration and found the estimated immigration crossing time to be between 20 and 30 minutes long. That was disappointing, especially because my NEXUS interview was scheduled to be 4 days later! 😭 I had no choice but to wait in the general line.

There were two ways to bypass the general line. The first is NEXUS, which had no wait. The second is the ArriveCAN line. Travelers who used ArriveCAN to fill out their customs declaration before arriving at the airport could use a dedicated lane. There was a short line for this one, but it didn’t look to be any longer than a 5 minute wait.

In the general line, I waited for a machine where I could scan my passport and fill out a customs declaration form. I had nothing to declare, so I completed the form quickly. The machine printed out a slip that I would show to the frontline immigration officers. The CBSA officer who processed me asked me what I’m doing in Canada and I told her “I’m visiting for two days for fun”. To my surprise, that was the end of the interview! Others were directed to secondary processing but I was allowed to pass through to collect my baggage.

After I got out of immigration and customs, I needed to take the 747 bus to get from the airport to my hotel in downtown Montréal (Ville-Marie). Unfortunately, I lost my original Opus card and had to buy a new one at the airport. That took between 30 and 45 minutes at the Opus vending machine. The line for the Opus machines were way too long. STM and ADM should really consider investing in more machines, especially if some of them break (which occurred during my arrival).

Departure experience

The 747 bus took an hour to get to the airport. I was one minute away from the checked bag cutoff. (I checked my bag in at 10:10am and my flight departed at 11:11am.) Next time, unless I have beaucoup time to pass, I will be sure to go to the airport earlier with a taxi.

After that, it came time for security, immigration, and customs. Montréal–Trudeau is one of eight Canadian airports that have U.S. Customs and Border Protection preclearance facilities. That meant I would be clearing customs and immigration at Montréal–Trudeau instead of LaGuardia. (In fact, LaGuardia doesn’t even have immigration facilities to process international arrivals.)

I reassured myself that I would be able to get through security and immigration in a timely fashion with my Global Entry membership. Thankfully, that proved to be true. I was able to utilize the Trusted Traveller [sic] security lane by presenting my Global Entry membership card to the CATSA officers. (CATSA is the Canadian version of the U.S.’s TSA.) Security took about 10-15 minutes, but immigration only took 2-3 minutes. I got to skip a long line that looked like a 15-minute wait. That gave me reassurance that I would make my flight on time!

Verified Traveller [sic] is the Canadian equivalent of TSA PreCheck. In Canada, I get access to this line by presenting either my Global Entry or NEXUS card. This is in contrast to the U.S., where TSA PreCheck is conferred by the designation on one’s boarding pass. In addition to NEXUS and Global Entry members, a few other categories of people can use this lane: air crew, members of the U.S. or Canadian armed forces, Royal Canadian Mounted Police and other Canadian law enforcement. All of these categories require valid identification related to their qualifying category for entry into this lane. (For instance, members of the armed forces would need to present their military photo ID.) More information at: https://www.catsa-acsta.gc.ca/en/verified-travellers

As a Global Entry member, my immigration process was very streamlined. The first step was to use their fancy new facial recognition machines. They would be used to collect my biometrics and to confirm my identity. It was as simple as looking into the machines (with my glasses off, of course) and waiting for it to give me the all-clear. Next, it told me to proceed to the agent. I waited for the next available agent, who asked me if I was bringing anything back to the U.S. that I would like to declare. I said “solid cheeses” (which can be brought back without trouble). He then asked me if there was anything else, and when I said no, he said “welcome back!”. I did not even have to hand him my passport. I always love avoiding the immigration interview! As a law-abiding American, I would really prefer my privacy to be respected while also providing reassurances of customs compliance to the CBP through minimal information sharing.

Final thoughts

Montréal–Trudeau International Airport is a major Canadian airport with both Canadian and U.S. immigration facilities. While my arrival experience was not particularly enjoyable, my departure experience was ameliorated by the speedy immigration process. The Canadian side was disappointing, especially all aspects controlled by STM (Société de transport de Montréal). Thankfully, my love for the city of Montréal outstrips my annoyance at the shortcomings of the processes at YUL, but there’s certainly a lot more improvements they could bring to the passenger experience.