Flying into Canada from the US ain't that hard after all!

Whew, it was a long day. I left the house at 5:30am for my 6:25a
departure in a C172SP up to Canada. Sat all day in a business meeting,
then departed around 6:00p, landing back home in the US at 7:30p
tonight. Each way, the trip was around one hour and twenty minutes,
thanks to a headwind in both directions (uphill both ways).

In the end, I decided to land at City Centre Airport, on the island next
to the CN tower, with its ILS approach. The night before the flight I
called CanPass three different times with destination changes, since the
Toronto area forecast for my morning arrival announced lower and lower
IFR with each release of the forecast.

AOPA's checklist for flying into Canada, located on their website, was
essential in preparing for my first flight into Canada. The checklist
listed all required aircraft and personal documents, who I should call
for customs and flight service, and how to work with customs once
landing.

As my logbook was about to gain another first flight for flying into
Canada, it also gained another first: The first time I flew a contact
approach. Weather from the southern shore of Lake Ontario to Toronto
turned out to be much better than forecasted, with no clouds below
12,000 and visibility around 10 or so in haze.

Checking into Toronto Terminal ATC, I announced I had the current ATIS
and requested a visual approach into the airport. The controller asked
if I spotted the airport yet. At 20 miles out, I still couldn't see the
airport, but I could see the outline of the island where the airport
was. I informed him that I couldn't see the airport yet. He then asked
me if I would like a contact approach.

In the US, these conditions were perfect for a visual approach, as I was
confident that when I got closer I could see it, so I declined the
contact approach. Apparently, in Canada, ATC needs to know farther out
if you can spot the airport for a visual approach, so the controller
replied by stating that if I didn't ask for a contact approach, he would
have to start vectoring me for the active localizer approach. I took
his hint and requested a contact approach.

Customs on arrival into City Centre was a non-event. After landing and
parking the aircraft, I called CANPASS from my cell phone in the cockpit
to announce my arrival. The agent on the phone asked me if any of my
information I provided the night before changed, how long I was going to
be in Canada, and what I brought in to the country. After answering the
questions, she cleared me through customs right over the phone and gave
me a document number for reference. That was easy...

City Centre is on an island right near the CN tower in Toronto, so I had
to take the world's shortest ferry-ride across the water to the
mainland. Of course, both times I arrived at the ferry dock (in the
morning after landing and in the evening to depart), the shortest-ferry
ride in the world was just landing on the opposite shore, making my time
awaiting the ferry the longest possible for the shortest ferry-ride.

The cab ride to the Pearson airport area (where my meeting was held) was
only a 15 minute ride at 8:20am during rush hour traffic. The return
cab ride was slightly longer at 25 minutes, with Friday night traffic
just a bit heavier.

The skyline of Toronto is absolutely beautiful at night, but of course I
had forgotten my camera. As I preflighted in the dark, I stopped and
enjoyed the incredible view from the ramp of City Centre airport.

I actually was able to depart 1/2 hour earlier than planned, so I called
an after-hours number for my local airport's US custom agent to notify
him of my earlier arrival time. When I landed, I taxied to the customs
location at our airport, where the agent was there waiting for me. He
drove up, greeted me (I was still in the aircraft), quickly shined his
light in the back seat of the rental aircraft to illuminate my portable
bathroom OJ bottle, then offered his car for me to complete a one-page
form.

The agent couldn't have been nicer and he even waived the $25 customs
decal fee since this decal is only good per calendar year (as in it
would have expired in five weeks). The agent didn't ask for any of my
ID or proof of citizenship, so I presume some type of background check
was done on me prior to my arrival. Five minutes later (all of the time
devoted to me filling out the form) and we were done.

A very big thank you to Icebound and especially Bill N. of this group
for providing over-the-top help with locating proper approach plates
(after my chart order screw-up with PilotStore.com), as well as Bill's
practical tips and experiences flying into Canada.


--
Peter