In September 2026, Air Canada launched a feature in its mobile app allowing passengers to enroll for a new facial-verification biometric gate at Toronto Pearson International Airport. Enrolled domestic travelers can use the biometric gate to replace the final passport and boarding pass check during boarding.
Toronto Pearson is piloting four biometric e-gates: one dedicated to domestic passengers using facial verification and three serving transborder travelers heading to the United States. Domestic passengers must opt in through the Air Canada app before reaching the gate, where a live facial image is matched against an approved traveler record in Air Canada’s
identity gallery. US-bound passengers’ enrollment occurs differently; their facial images are captured during American border preclearance at Pearson, allowing identification at the gate without prior app registration.
Technology Providers and System Integration
Dormakaba supplies the physical biometric gate hardware installed at Toronto Pearson. Middleware connecting the biometric gates to airline and border identity systems is provided by Airsphere and SITA. Air Canada manages the domestic enrollment software and maintains the identity gallery used for facial verification of enrolled travelers.
Pilot Participation and Operational Metrics
The biometric gates pilot operates on a voluntary basis, coexisting with traditional document checks for all travelers at Toronto Pearson. The airport is monitoring pilot metrics
such as adoption rates, processing times, passenger throughput, and customer satisfaction to evaluate performance and inform future deployment decisions.
Background and Context
This deployment builds on Air Canada’s prior mobile-based traveler identity pilot which linked smartphone enrollment with facial recognition at the airport. A separate biometric boarding rollout using selfie onboarding is also active at Calgary Airport. Toronto Pearson currently handles approximately 47 million passengers annually and anticipates growth to 65 million passengers in the early 2030s. The airport’s broader modernization strategy incorporates digital identity and automated processing technologies to manage increasing passenger volumes.
