Filling out a paper customs card on the flight back to Canada is about to become a thing of the past.
On Tuesday, the Canada Border Services Agency officially unveiled the new primary inspection kiosks. The Ottawa airport is the first in Canada to have the technology.
"The introduction of these (kiosks) allows us to move to fully digital border processing," says Wendy Luciani, manager of traveler transformation for the CBSA.
Instead of filling out the paper form, travelers will input their information and answer questions on kiosks when they arrive. It will verify your travel documents, confirm your identity by matching your passport picture to one it takes and you answer the standard questions about exemptions and allowances. The technology is expected to expedite the customs process.
"We usually had four to six officers in a booth and now we have 16 kiosks, so we're able to serve more people at one time," Luciani explains.
The kiosks have been in use in Ottawa for three weeks. In that period, the wait time to see a customs agent after completing a declaration is less than a minute.
There's also an app travelers can use before they fly or while they're on the plane. You put in your information and answer the questions ahead of time, then get a QR code that you scan at the kiosk when you arrive.
"To use the app from start to finish for a trip takes me a bout 15 seconds," says Luciani, who adds that using the app cuts the kiosk time in half. Travelers just have to verify their identity after scanning their code before proceeding to an agent.
The technology also allows more flexibility when the unexpected happens and there aren't as many agents on duty.
"An aircraft that's diverted from Toronto and arrives in Ottawa unscheduled, we are able to process them if they cannot take off in time and have to wait for another flight to leave the next morning," says Ottawa Airport Authority President and CEO Mark Laroche.
The CBSA also says its addressed concerns about privacy.
"All the traveler's information that is entered into the kiosk is encrypted before it is sent securely to the CBSA's systems for processing," explains John Ossowski, President of the CBSA.
"Once a traveler is processed, all the data is deleted from the kiosk."
Copies of the declaration receipts are kept for two years, in accordance with privacy regulations.
The kiosks are expected to be in all major airports across Canada by the end of the year.
