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Connecting through Montreal to Vancouver: immigration first, bags usually at your final stop

Canada • Permanent Resident • immigration 0 views
By VisaBuddies Communityvia community — compiled from public visa forums

Step-by-Step

A traveller on a Delhi → Montreal → Vancouver routing with an 8–9 hour layover asked whether bags or immigration come first, and whether they'd need to re-check in. Members who had flown the same route answered:

  1. Immigration comes first, at Montreal. Your first Canadian airport is where you complete immigration formalities (for new permanent residents, this is also where landing formalities like PR-card photos were handled, per one member's exchange).

  2. On a single-airline ticket, bags go through to your final city. Since the whole journey was on Air Canada, members said the luggage would most likely be delivered directly at Vancouver — one member confirmed from their own trip on the identical routing: immigration in Montreal, bags collected at the final destination.

  3. The long layover doesn't add work. With bags checked through on one ticket, there's no re-check-in of luggage during the layover; you proceed to your domestic connection after clearing immigration.


As always, confirm with the airline that bags are tagged through to the final destination — the members' experience applied to a single-carrier itinerary.

Dos, Don'ts & Tips

  • Do: Clear immigration at your first Canadian airport before anything else — plan your layover around it.
  • Tip: On a single-ticket, single-airline itinerary, checked bags are typically delivered at your final Canadian city; verify the tag says your end destination.

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