Can I leave the Pearson airport on my layover

Upvote:1

The following assumes you will travel on an Ethiopian passport and do not possess any other passports:

  • You will need a visa to leave the airport in Canada.
  • You probably need a visa to transit Canada regardless, as Ethiopia is not listed on the TWOV eligibility criteria here.

Upvote:1

First, note that you will need either a transit visa or a visitor visa for Canada, which must be applied for in advance. The government of Canada has a nice webpage where you can find out what you'll need. Since you said that you'll only be in Toronto Pearson for 6 hours, and assuming that you're an Ethiopian citizen, I'll assume that you would be applying for a transit visa rather than a visitor visa.

If you have a transit visa, it does appear that you can leave the airport, though it is hard to find an official reference for this.

That said, six hours is rather tight for doing anything meaningful in the city of Toronto. Depending on the airlines you're flying, you might not have to interact with Canada Border Services at all; in particular, this is likely to be the case if you're flying entirely on Star Alliance airlines (including Air Canada). Toronto Pearson provides a handy connections guide that tells you what you'll need to do. If you arrive on an international flight and depart to the United States, you may not have to "officially" enter Canada (though I believe you still need a transit visa or the airline might not let you board).

However, if you decide to depart the airport, you will have to stand in line for Canada Border Services. The airport is not near the city center, and while there's a train to & from the city center, that will eat some time as well. If I were doing this, I'd want to be back to the airport 1.5–2 hours in advance of my departure; and factoring in the train/cab travel and the time spent waiting in the Canada Border Services line, this leaves you with about 2–3 hours of useful time. Whether or not that's worth the hassle is a matter for your own judgment.

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