The Canada Border Services Agency’s (CBSA) Primary Inspection Kiosk program will be expanding in Vancouver this spring.
Vancouver International Airport (YVR) has announced that it will be increasing the number of self-serve border control kiosks in an effort to offer better service to a growing number of incoming international travelers.
The 90 new BorderXpress kiosks will meet PIK program requirements and help the CBSA move closer to its goal of modernizing the border entry process for air travelers, which includes eliminating the paper declaration card customers fill out on their return flight to Canada. This process will now be handled by the kiosks more efficiently and paperless.
Craig Richmond, president and CEO of the Vancouver Airport Authority, calls the border clearance kiosks “the way of the future.”
“We applaud the CBSA’s continued efforts to expand the use of kiosks to reduce border wait times while meeting evolving security needs,” he says in an Apr. 5 press release. “Not only do our BorderXpress solutions provide a modern and efficient experience for our passengers, they are also a smart choice for airports and government, as they help to reduce overall operating costs and free up border officers to focus more closely on enforcement and intelligence efforts.”
The new kiosks will allow passengers to scan their travel documents, complete their declaration card, verify their identity and admissibility using facial recognition technology before a final inspection by a CBSA officer. They have been incrementally rolled out in other city airports across Canada, such as Ottawa, last month.
“This process will ultimately reduce time spent with the CBSA officers and decrease overall processing times,” the press release continues. “The addition of the new BorderXpress kiosks will help YVR meet its goal of handling 25 million passengers by 2025 while still providing exceptional customer experiences.”
The BorderXpress kiosks, developed by Innovative Travel Solutions, an independent business unit within YVR, will help immigration officers process “up to four times more passengers per hour than through traditional clearance.” And as of Mar. 1, 2017, they have helped process over 100 million passengers.
BorderXpress can be configured to meet the needs of governments around the world looking to implement technology solutions to reduce border line-ups and improve the safety, security and integrity of their borders. They are currently in use at 34 airport and seaport locations.