When the ArriveCan app became optional at the start of October last year, the Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) expected a significant drop in usage. After a pandemic of traveller frustration and confusion with the app, including false quarantine notices, the CBSA prediction turned out to be right.
CBSA superintendent Neil VandenBroek says the usage of app dropped below 10 per cent when it became optional on Oct. 1, 2022 — but that there has also been a gradual increase in usage he links to the wider introduction of an advance declaration tool in ArriveCan.
And while ArriveCan got off to a rocky start during the pandemic, the plan is to stick with the app and build in new features like the advance declaration tool as part of a broader “border modernization strategy.”
“We understood that once the mandatory portion went away, we’d see a big drop in those numbers,” VandenBroek said.
Advanced customs declaration is currently available at seven airports in Canada. Travellers have the option of filling out their customs declarations within the ArriveCan app ahead of time, and then use an express customs lane upon arrival.
A Global News analysis of usage data since ArriveCan became optional puts the usage at 14.98 per cent of travellers arriving in Canada from Oct. 1, 2022, to Jan. 31, 2023.
The advanced declaration tool was available in six airports for the reporting period: Vancouver, Toronto Pearson, Montreal, Winnipeg, Halifax and Quebec City.
Advanced declaration became available at Calgary International Airport on Jan. 31. The CBSA has plans to expand the option for travellers arriving in Edmonton, Ottawa and Toronto’s Billy Bishop Airport in the coming months.
“We understand that there is probably some bad taste for the app given some of the issues that were raised during the pandemic,” VandenBroek said.
“But the fact of the matter is that we have built the platform. We have it. So we’re going to continue to use it and transform it into a border modernization tool for people as opposed to something mandatory.”
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The CBSA is working on other tools to help modernize operations at the border. One tool would apply facial recognition technology to a copy of your passport image stored in the ArriveCan app. The CBSA believes this might speed up identification.
“I think the more we’re able to integrate and make the process more convenient for passengers, the more they’ll use these types of tools,” said Transport Minister Omar Alghabra on Monday.
“We’re going to learn from what we’ve seen so far and hopefully further improve on that journey.”
Overall, VandenBroek adds that people who have used the advance declaration tool have shared mostly positive feedback with “minimal” technical issues.
As for saving time at customs, CBSA data shows that it is 30 to 45 per cent quicker to use the app than self-serve kiosks depending on the airport — a factor that could increase interest among travellers given extensive and highly criticized delays at airports over the past year.
VandenBroek says he’d like to see usage among travellers flying into and out of Canadian airports exceed 30 per cent.
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