Starting mid-September 2026, Air Canada integrated a biometric facial-verification enrollment feature into its mobile app for passengers departing from Toronto Pearson International Airport. The pilot program includes four biometric e-gates at Pearson: one serving domestic flights and three for passengers flying to the United States via the transborder section.
Enrollment Process Differs for Domestic and US-bound Passengers
Domestic travelers must opt in using the Air Canada app before reaching the gate. The system captures a live facial image and compares it to the passenger’s record stored in Air Canada’s identity gallery, allowing the biometric verification to substitute for presenting a passport and boarding pass. Passengers traveling to the
United States do not need prior enrollment because their images are captured during US border preclearance at Pearson, enabling the three transborder biometric gates to perform live comparison without separate registration.
Technology Providers and Voluntary Participation
Dormakaba supplies the physical biometric gates for the pilot, while middleware integration connecting the gates to identity management systems is handled by Airsphere and SITA. Air Canada is responsible for the domestic enrollment software and maintaining the identity gallery. Participation in the biometric gate system is voluntary, with conventional document checks still available for all travelers at Toronto Pearson.
Performance Metrics and Related Deployments
Toronto Pearson is monitoring adoption rates, processing times, passenger throughput,
and customer satisfaction as part of the pilot evaluation. This initiative builds upon Air Canada’s prior mobile-based traveler identity pilot that linked smartphone enrollment with facial recognition technology. Separately, Calgary Airport has deployed a biometric boarding system using selfie onboarding.
Toronto Pearson Passenger Volumes and Modernization
Toronto Pearson currently handles roughly 47 million passengers annually and anticipates growth to 65 million by the early 2030s. The airport’s modernization program includes digital identity and automated processing technologies designed to accommodate this expected increase in traveler volume. The current pilot is limited to the boarding stage and demonstrates how mobile enrollment and existing government travel records can facilitate
automated gate processing.
