U.S. Customs and Border Protection

Horrendous customs experience. Long, winding, never-ending inefficient line. Abrasive, unhelpful, unorganized staff. Many passengers about to miss their flight caused chaos and disorder with people trying to skip the line and arguments among passengers with no clear direction from staff. It was a zoo. Avoid this airport at all costs if flying back to the US from an international trip.

These people are nasty and should be ashamed of themselves for treating people the way they do. I will never fly through YYZ again. What an embarrassment of a process being welcomed into the United States. Hands down the worst experience I've ever had at an airport.

If I could give this experience 0 stars, I would. US citizens- DO NoT fly through here. You will be herded like farm animals through a 3.5 hours customs line with rude and abrasive officers who are unhelpful and don’t care. I have travelled to 10+ countries and this is the worst customs experience ever. Even after we did everything correctly, after being yelled at by 4-5 officers already, we even downloaded their passport app and got a QR code to speed things up- we were stopped again on our way to the final customs window, chased down like a wild animal by a rude officer with poor English who did not believe we had the right QR code, after we showed him many times on our phone. These people obviously have an issue with Americans in general… but they want to keep us hostage in Canada for some reason. I have never been treated so poorly anywhere else. I have never been to Canada for traveling or leisure but now I will be sure to never come here.

It's evident whoever is staffed at this Customs outlet at Pearson has no idea what they are doing.Back in September, I arrived three hours prior to my departing flight to San Francisco...which is a suitable enough time. The initial security screening went fine and quite swift.Then came the Customs line that moved slower than Kanye West's brain. First off, why on Earth do we undergo a Customs check at the departing airport? It has always been conducted wherever you arrive. If this was a policy change, clearly they had not heard the cliche that, if it ain't broke, don't fix it. After all, it makes sense to not do it where departing so everyone makes their flights. Prior to Canada, I'd been through at least ten Customs lines worldwide and all were done where I arrived. The most I'd ever had to wait was about 25 minutes in London back in August/1999 (RE: peak season). At Pearson, the wait was 2 hrs, 30 minutes just to go through two turnstile type lines....with a humongous backup lying ahead of me. It should not take 30 minutes to clear ONE person.LIke many reviewers, I worried that I would not make my flight. Upon asking two female officers if I could go to an expedited line, they were abrasive, curt and otherwise elicited zero customer service abilities. In any instance, they would be understanding and permit you to not miss your flight. When I protested, they threatened to call security on me. Huh? If you lack a thick skin, you don't belong in this line of work. Grow up.I ended up asking about 100 people if I could go in front so as to make my flight. At the front, some nasty officer accused me of skipping the line, then starts repeating her false accusations! Buzz off, Karen. I didn't even talk to you, nor did I line jump, so take your unsolicited diatribe and get lost.I filed a complaint but, three months later, their (likely lazed, ineffective) manager has yet to address this preposterous mayhem.This is not acceptable for hundreds of folks to miss their flights all so this staff either chats, laughs, moves like a sloth, etc. If every other airport or border crossing has an efficient Customs line (as has been the case in these cities where I've dealt with professional, speedy Customs: Sydney, Auckland, London, Dublin, Quebec City, Budapest, Paris, Lisbon, San Francisco, Miami, Tijuana, Juarez), there's no excuse for Toronto to lag behind.I was in Dublin this past October and, despite the lengthy line, pre-clearance (again, do it where we arrive) was all of 45 minutes (not 2 hrs, 30 minutes) in a queue roughly synonymous to Pearson's.Pearson must properly train their Customs/Border staff on speed, etiquette, managing extensive queues, and most importantly...offering expedited service in last minute circumstances. This is the real world and sometimes we get delayed arriving at an airport or have an urgent need (in this case, the urgency being due to a microscopically active line), to which staff is easily understanding...except PEarson.Until Pearson rectifies this mismanaged operation, should I travel through Toronto, I will only deal with their domestic airport. At least their staff properly treat clientele with dignity, respect and adhere to our timely needs.

Flew out of Pearson in January with a green card and an extension stamp no problem. This time with the same green card and extension stamp, I was brought to secondary customs so my stamp could be verified which caused me to miss my flight. I was very upset especially considering the only reason I have an extension stamp is because USCIS is behind. When I expressed my dissatisfaction, the officer threatened to call the police and told me he could revoke my clearance and all of these other fear-tacts. A total abuse of power. My documents were in order and ready to go. It should not be my fault that the U.S. government does not have its act together. Now I get to sit in the airport for an additional 5.5 hours for the flight I paid an additional $150 to be on.

Don’t bother booking a flight to the US through here. I have global entry but was denied using it, and despite having evidence of my account and everything the lady officer gaslit me. It was 4:30 AM. There’s no need to be rude, and I wasn’t using any foul language or a bad tone. Terrible people all around.

I planned my trip to Vegas in early July the customs line was long I’d say probably 20 wait. Just be honest about everything in any questions with an officer and then all clear. (Before your trip) fill up all or any documents asked by the airline. I think I may apply for a Nexus card for better speed up for air or land border travelling.

The female officer was extremely unhelpful and annoying. From the moment I said hi to her, she was definitely in a bad mood. My flight was departing g in 5 minutes, so I passed everything quick, but then she said: I don't care if you take the plane or not. Just follow my order." Such a kind and helpful advice

Terrible experience. I have Nexus and was pulled into secondary questioning because when I was asked if I went to school in the US I replied no. I forgot that I took a 3 day elementary teaching professional development course in Florida a few years ago. The secondary officer yelled at me so hard I could not answer any of his questions I was crying so hard. My husband tried to stand beside me to help me, but he yelled at him to sit down. The officer mocked me for crying.Three hours after I was still crying because of how inhumanly I was treated. When I think back to this experience I have nothing but tears in my eyes. Officers need more training as no human should be treated this way.

I was renewing my TN Visa and arrived 4 hours before my flight. I had to wait for almost 3.5 hours for USCIS to process my visa and just barely made my flight. I asked about the wait time and was told that green card holders get priority (not first come first serve or based on flight time). In addition, the CBP staff who took my TN visa payment was rude and disrespectful. Please do not come here to renew your TN visa if you have another alternative!