Transportation
Kiosk outages at Toronto Pearson raise concerns over aging CBSA technology
October 20, 2025
Passport inspection kiosks at Toronto Pearson International Airport experienced another system failure Friday, Oct. 17, causing long delays for travelers in Terminals 1 and 3, according to a PAX News report.
The malfunction marked the latest in a series of outages affecting Canada Border Services Agency e-gates, which verify passenger identity and process customs declarations. Similar incidents at major airports in recent months have been linked to the agency's aging IT infrastructure.
"We do have legacy systems. We do have contingency plans. But it's not acceptable that they go down," CBSA President Erin O'Gorman told the news outlet.
The outage comes after earlier disruptions in April, June and late September that forced manual processing and led to wait times of several hours. Public Safety Minister Gary Anandasangaree has directed O'Gorman to deliver a report within 90 days detailing the technology issues and their impact.
In a statement issued Oct. 6, CBSA said it worked with airport authorities and bridge and tunnel operators to manage delays while ensuring safety and security. The agency also apologized to travelers, confirming the outages were not caused by a cyberattack.
Ten Canadian airports currently use the automated kiosks, first introduced in 2017 to streamline arrivals. The recent failures have renewed scrutiny over the system's reliability as passenger traffic continues to rebound.
