ArriveCAN 2026: Do US Visitors Still Need It?

By Declan Moss · 20 August 2026

No. ArriveCAN is not required to enter Canada. In 2026, it is a free and optional way to submit an Advance CBSA Declaration before flying into a participating Canadian airport.

The old COVID requirement ended on 1 October 2022. If a website says you must pay for ArriveCAN before your Toronto flight, leave the page.

The 2026 answer in one card. ArriveCAN is optional and free. Start from Canada.ca, not an official-looking paid landing page.

What does ArriveCAN do now?

ArriveCAN now carries the Advance CBSA Declaration feature. It lets an air traveller submit customs and immigration answers before reaching the airport kiosk or eGate in Canada.

The names matter:

• ArriveCAN is the app and web tool.
• Advance CBSA Declaration is the optional feature inside it.

The official Advance Declaration page says a traveller can submit up to 72 hours before a flight, use an Advance Declaration express lane and review the answers at the airport. CBSA says the kiosk or eGate step can be up to 50% faster.

That last sentence has a boundary. It does not promise that the whole trip from aircraft door to curb will be 50% faster.

Is it worth using at Toronto Pearson?

Use it if you would rather answer the declaration questions before the flight, especially for a family or group. One ArriveCAN submission can include up to eight travellers.

Skip it if you are travelling alone, dislike setting up an account and are content to make the declaration at the airport. It is a time-saving option, not an entry requirement.

Toronto Pearson International Airport, or YYZ, accepts Advance Declaration at both Terminal 1 and Terminal 3. Pearson must be your first point of arrival in Canada. If your itinerary enters Canada through another airport before connecting to Toronto, the first Canadian airport is the relevant border point.

The current tool accepts a passport or Canadian permanent resident card for the traveller profile. Use the same document when you arrive.

What still happens at the Pearson kiosk?

Submitting from home does not finish customs. Quick summaries often miss this detail.

At Pearson, you still:

1. scan the same travel document at a kiosk or eGate
2. review and edit the declaration if needed
3. confirm the final declaration
4. take the kiosk or eGate receipt to a border services officer

A maximum of five travellers can use one kiosk at a time. Solo travellers aged 14 or older can use an eGate. Advance Declaration does not currently work with NEXUS kiosks.

The portable rule: advance means prepared early, not completed early.

Which airports accept Advance Declaration in 2026?

The Government of Canada listed these 10 participating airports when this guide was checked on 20 August 2026:

1. Vancouver International Airport (YVR)
2. Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ), Terminals 1 and 3
3. Montréal-Trudeau International Airport (YUL)
4. Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport (YWG)
5. Halifax Stanfield International Airport (YHZ)
6. Québec City Jean Lesage International Airport (YQB)
7. Calgary International Airport (YYC)
8. Ottawa International Airport (YOW)
9. Edmonton International Airport (YEG)
10. Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport (YTZ)

This feature is for travellers whose first point of arrival in Canada is one of those airports. It is not the advance-declaration route for a land crossing.

How do you avoid a paid ArriveCAN impostor?

Never pay for ArriveCAN. The official app and web service are free.

Start at the Government of Canada ArriveCAN page. Do not type passport details into an official-looking landing page found through an ad. If the first page you open is not on Canada.ca or a CBSA domain, close it and start again from the official page.

From Canada.ca, follow the government's own links to the web app or the Apple and Google app stores. That removes the need to judge a lookalike site by its logo.

CBSA has warned about fraudulent webpages and mobile apps posing as ArriveCAN and asking for money. A service fee for ArriveCAN is a definitive red flag.

What does a US visitor actually need to fly into Toronto?

ArriveCAN is separate from entry documents. For the US-passport leisure traveller framed in this guide, IRCC says US citizens are exempt from the eTA requirement and should carry proper identification such as a valid US passport.

Different citizenship, permanent-resident status and individual circumstances have different document rules. Use the official IRCC entry guidance for your own status. An ArriveCAN confirmation is not a passport, visa or eTA.

You still make a customs and immigration declaration at the airport. The choice is whether to prepare it through ArriveCAN before the flight or complete it after landing.

What comes after Pearson?

Once you clear the border, the useful Toronto question is no longer about the app. It is how to get downtown with your luggage.

Our live guide, Pearson to downtown: the four ways, and what each really costs, compares UP Express, TTC, taxi and rideshare, including the pickup details that are easy to miss after a long flight.

Then match the downtown base to the part of Toronto you will actually use:

• York in South Core for the Union Station and Financial District side
• Atmos in the Entertainment District for King Street West and the stadium district
• Parade in CityPlace for Fort York and the western waterfront
• Jarvis in the Garden District for the Eaton Centre and Toronto Metropolitan University side

Four real first-party StayToronto photographs, one from each downtown stay area. They show specific units or views, not every layout or view.

Before you go

• Recheck the official Advance Declaration page before the flight because the airport list, supported documents and process can change.
• Confirm passport, visa or eTA requirements separately through IRCC. ArriveCAN does not replace an entry document.
• Check the first Canadian airport on a connecting itinerary. That is where the border process happens.

Official sources

• CBSA, Use Advance Declaration to save time at the border
• CBSA, What you need before you start
• CBSA, Access ArriveCAN and create an account
• CBSA, How to submit an Advance Declaration
• CBSA, How to make a declaration at an airport kiosk or eGate
• Government of Canada, removal of COVID border measures on 1 October 2022
• CBSA warning about false credentials, fraudulent pages and paid ArriveCAN lookalikes
• IRCC, eTA eligibility and US-citizen exemption

StayToronto is not affiliated with the Government of Canada or the Canada Border Services Agency.

About this guide

Written by Declan Moss. Every border and ArriveCAN fact here was checked against an official Government of Canada source on 20 August 2026, and the links are in the text.

Plan the part after the airport

Compare StayToronto's short-term furnished stays across downtown Toronto. Choose the address for the neighbourhood you will use, then use the Pearson guide for the trip in.