TORONTO, ONTARIO -- (Marketwire) -- 02/08/13 -- Today, on behalf of the Hounourable Vic Toews, Minister of Public Safety, the Honourable Bal Gosal, Minister of State (sport), was joined by Pamela Griffith-Jones, Vice-President of Guest and Terminal Services for the Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA) to officially launch the Automated Border Clearance (ABC) program at Toronto Pearson International Airport and Goran Vragovic, CBSA Regional Director General for the Greater Toronto Area.

"Our Government is committed to making our borders more secure and efficient. ABC technology is a secure and innovative service which demonstrates our Government's approach to smarter border management and making travel easier for Canadians," said Minister of State Gosal. "Thanks to the close partnership between the GTAA and the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), Canadian citizens and permanent residents now have a convenient new option to clear the border at Toronto Pearson."

"We are excited to introduce the ABC kiosk program to Toronto Pearson, starting with Terminal 3 now and launching in Terminal 1 in a few months," said Pamela Griffith-Jones. "We worked very closely with the CBSA to bring this technology to Toronto to give Canadians and permanent residents a self-serve option for expediting the customs process that we know will contribute to an overall positive experience at Toronto Pearson."

ABC uses self-service kiosk technology to partially automate the processing of Canadian citizens (with a valid Canadian passport) and permanent residents of Canada (with a valid permanent resident card) returning to Canada. The self-service kiosks are easy to use and do not require preregistration by travellers or payment of any membership fees.

Eligible travellers, who choose to use an ABC kiosk, should have all of the necessary documents on hand when they approach the kiosk, including the CBSA Declaration Card, their Canadian passport or Canadian permanent resident card, and all receipts for purchases made abroad.

To use the kiosk, the traveller activates the kiosk touch screen, scans their travel document, inserts their completed CBSA Declaration Card and answers a few clarifying questions as required. Once finished at the kiosk, travellers present their printed kiosk receipt and travel document to a border services officer at the next checkpoint for a verification of their identity and validation of their travel documents. The ABC kiosk allows up to four travellers residing at the same address to be processed in a single transaction if they are all identified on the same CBSA Declaration Card.

Smart border management includes border services that leverage technology to assist in reducing wait times and congestion at Canada's busiest airports. By the end of March 2013, travellers arriving at Terminal 1 should also be able to choose an ABC kiosk to streamline a portion of their border clearance process.

The launch of ABC at Toronto Pearson is an important step in the continued expansion of this secure and innovative service. While this innovative technology is new to Toronto Pearson International Airport, it has already proven to be enormously successful in Vancouver and Montreal.

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