Two prominent Canadian business people are calling for Canada to come up with its own “trusted traveller” program to speed up airport security.
Writing in the Toronto Star, Toronto Region Board of Trade president and CEO, Jan De Silva, and Destination Toronto president and CEO, Scott Beck, said the program would be a big boost for Canada’s airports and improve the national economy.
“Travel delays aren’t just minor inconveniences for visitors hoping to get some reprieve from winter, or coming to Canada on a business trip,” they wrote. “They represent a very real risk to our economy and perceptions of our country. We’re losing out on conferences, concerts and other international events that can just as easily be hosted elsewhere. Policymakers must take action to improve passenger experience now, before the delays we’ve seen over the past year become the norm.
“Budget 2023 is an excellent opportunity for the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance to tackle these issues head on.”
In an interview with Open Jaw on 27MAR, Beck said the program would not replace but instead complement the NEXUS program.
NEXUS is a joint US-Canada plan that allows enrolled travellers (roughly about 1.7 million people in total (mostly Canadians) to speed through border screening procedures. They also have a special lineup at most airports that allows them to go through security faster.
What Beck and Da Silva want, and what other organizations such as the Tourism Industry Association of Canada are lobbying Ottawa for, is a made in Canada program that would apply only to security check-in. While NEXUS works for travel between Canada and the U.S., the new plan would be for both international and domestic travel.
“NEXUS is a great program to speed border crossings between the U.S. and Canada, and resuming application processing will help to grow the pool of low-risk passengers for a trusted-traveller program. But what we need is a complement that will speed airport security as well,” DaSilva and Beck wrote.
“Internationally, the best airports are screening 95 per cent of passengers in 10 minutes or less. In Canada, that slips to 85 per cent in 15 minutes, a number that worsens at peak times and in major cities like Toronto and Montreal.”
“As part of the TSA PreCheck program in the U.S., trusted travellers can keep their shoes, belts and a light jacket on, in addition to small items in their pockets and compliant liquids, aerosols and gels in their carry-on bags,” they said.
That doesn’t sound like a big deal, but Beck told Open Jaw it would make a big difference.
“Think of the thousands of people who go through security every day, and multiply that by 15-30 seconds per person. It really adds up,” he said in a telephone interview.
Beck said business leaders would like to see the program implemented before the busy summer travel season.
“Trials are currently happening and showing positive results. This program should be opt-in and available to all Canadian citizens, permanent residents and Global Entry and NEXUS cardholders,” he and DaSilva wrote.
Beck said a press release on the issue was released a few weeks ago. There hasn’t been a breakthrough since, but it wasn’t expected given the federal government’s preoccupation with presenting its new budget. That happens Tuesday, 28MAR .
