Alex C.
Yelp
YYZ definitely has been one of the most poorly organized customs areas that I have ever had the displeasure of flying into. Upon arriving, there are giant signs directing people into lines for Citizens, Residents, and Nexus individuals. Like most arriving passengers, I was looking for other passports to no avail. Turns out, it was a single, tiny, unmarked line in which an airport employee would occasionally shout "OTHER PASSPORTS" and vehemently point to. She was unfortunately occupied with a question from an elderly passenger at the time, so a big mob of us just stood there in confusion wondering where to line up until she was finally available to shout and point again.
Toronto airport has been upgraded with the automated kiosks at customs. Simply scan your passport, answer a few questions, and stare into the camera until it clears you and spits out a little slip of paper. From there, it was extremely unclear which direction the exit was. While EVERY airport I've ever flown into has a very clear exit path, there was no signage or roped off lines directing us out. Following along the perimeter of the roped area, I finally found an opening that essentially cut into another line that was also headed towards the exit. Instead of simply forming a separate line, they made us cut in front of other people in a pre-existing line just to get out.
Literally all of this bottleneck and confusion could have been avoided by simply doing what every other modern airport in the world does. Have clear signage, individual lines that don't just merge into one another, and people directing traffic in key intersections.
Flying out of YYZ was equally as aggravating. While Air Canada had plenty of self-service kiosks, they had very few manned kiosks for my coworker who had issues with her flight and needed a live desk agent. Despite being one of Canada's largest airlines and having multiple lanes dedicated to their airline, it was incredible how poorly staffed the desks were for being the middle of the afternoon.
There were also surprisingly few power outlets at the gate in Terminal 1. In this day and age, it's still baffling when an airport can't even supply more outlets for departing passengers.