Air Canada has initiated a biometric facial verification pilot at Toronto Pearson International Airport that allows passengers to enroll through the airline’s mobile app. The pilot, launched as of September 14, 2026, features four biometric gates designed to streamline boarding for domestic and US-bound travelers.
Biometric Gate Operations and Enrollment Process
The pilot consists of one domestic gate and three transborder gates serving flights to the United States. Domestic passengers must opt in through Air Canada’s mobile app before reaching the gate, where a camera captures a live facial image and compares it to records held in the airline’s identity gallery. Successful matches eliminate the need
for presenting a physical passport and boarding pass.
US-bound travelers undergo enrollment differently. Their facial image is captured during American preclearance at Pearson, so the transborder gates can verify identity without separate advance registration, enabling boarding procedures without physical documents.
Technology Providers and Participation Details
Dormakaba supplies the physical biometric gates installed at Toronto Pearson. Middleware that connects the biometric hardware with identity management systems is provided by Airsphere and SITA. Air Canada manages the domestic registration software and the identity gallery used for facial recognition verification. Participation is voluntary, and conventional passport and boarding pass checks remain operational alongside the biometric gates.
Pilot Metrics and Scope
Toronto Pearson
International Airport is monitoring key metrics during the pilot, including adoption rates, processing times, passenger throughput, and customer satisfaction. The current biometric gate deployment is limited to boarding processes and does not extend to immigration clearance.
Passenger Volume Context and Previous Biometric Deployments
Toronto Pearson handles approximately 47 million passengers annually and anticipates passenger volumes rising to 65 million in the early 2030s. This biometric pilot is part of a modernization effort to manage future growth through automation and digital identity technologies. Air Canada has previously conducted mobile-based biometric boarding pilots, and a separate Canadian project implemented selfie onboarding for boarding at Calgary Airport.
