Air Canada Check-in & Boarding

Last updated: 31 October 2026.

Air Canada offers online, app, kiosk and counter check-in. Meet the deadlines in your itinerary; missing them can lead to reassigned seats, cancelled reservations or no denied-boarding compensation.

Key times (before scheduled departure)

• From September 2024 the general check-in deadline became 60 minutes. Exceptions: on domestic Canadian flights bags are accepted until 45 minutes ahead; at Toronto Billy Bishop (YTZ) domestic check-in ends 30 minutes ahead and bag drop 25 minutes ahead, while US flights from there keep 60 minutes for both.
• At Athens, Lisbon, London Heathrow and Rome Fiumicino, check-in and bag drop open 240 minutes before departure.
• Toronto Pearson flights to the USA or abroad before 9 am: arrive at least 3 hours ahead. US-bound flights are pre-cleared by US Customs in Canada; at Billy Bishop plan to arrive 90 minutes ahead.
• Kiosks start 12 hours ahead. For a codeshare flight, use the partner airline's check-in times.

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Online and app check-in

• Opens a day ahead. Have one of: the 6-character booking reference, your 9-digit Aeroplan number, or the 13-digit ticket number that begins 014, plus the documents your destination demands and, for the USA, an address where you will stay.
• In the same session you can choose standard or Preferred seats, declare and pay for bags, make a same-day change or ask to standby, apply eUpgrade credits or buy an upgrade, and upload health papers.
• Groups can check in online in batches of 9 passengers.
• Go to an airport agent if you travel with an unaccompanied minor, need medical help or a wheelchair, have a special request, carry a pet, or leave from Algeria, Cuba or Morocco, or when another carrier flies your first sector.
• At the airport, print and attach bag tags at a kiosk, drop checked bags at the counter, then go to security. Carry-on only passengers can go straight to security.

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Questions travellers ask us

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Baggage Allowance is an independent information site and is not part of Air Canada. Check the airline's own pages before you travel.