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How long after landing should you pick someone up at Pearson?

"Landed" is not "at the curb." At Toronto Pearson there's a whole sequence between wheels-down and the arrivals door — and it's very different for a domestic carry-on traveller than an international one with checked bags. Here's the full breakdown so you can time it.

Short answer: from wheels-down, plan on roughly 25 minutes for a domestic carry-on pickup at the fast end, and up to about 46 minutes for an international arrival with checked bags at the slow end. The four things that decide where you land in that range: domestic vs international, carry-on vs checked bags, aircraft size, and time of day.

The sequence between "landed" and "at the curb"

The airline's "landed" time is wheels-down on the runway — the very start. Everything that determines when your passenger walks out comes after it:

Taxi to the gateRunway to a parked aircraft at a big airport~8 min (up to ~15 on a slow day)
Deplane + walk to the hallNarrow-body vs wide-body, far gates add up~12–20 min
Customs & immigrationInternational only — NEXUS fast, officer slow~6 min typical
Baggage claimChecked bags only — belt runs this long, overlapping customs~28 min (up to ~48 on a slow day)
Walk to the arrivals curbHall to the pickup door4 min
Landing → curb (typical)~25–46 min

The steps overlap — on a checked-bag flight, bags unload while passengers clear customs, so they don't simply add up. The four cases below give the real totals. Measured steps (taxi, baggage) come from CurbSync's tracking of 143,000+ Pearson arrivals; deplane, customs and walk are from CurbSync's curb model.

The four cases, side by side

Most pickups fall into one of these. The gap between the fastest and slowest is large — around 20 minutes or more — which is exactly why a single "leave X minutes after it lands" rule fails.

Typical time from landing (wheels-down) to curb (minutes)
CaseCarry-on onlyChecked bags
Domestic arrival~25 min~43 min
International arrival~39 min~46 min

Notice the gap between the columns: for a domestic arrival, checked bags add ~18 minutes over carry-on — but for an international one they add only ~7, because the bags come off the plane while your passenger is clearing customs. So "international + checked" isn't as slow as it sounds, and "domestic + checked" is slower than people expect.

Two things people always forget

Skip the mental math — get one curb time for your flight.

Text CurbSync a flight number. We run this whole stack for your terminal, your arrival type, and the live flight, then message you as it changes — delays, early arrivals, gate changes, bags. Free to start. Want it narrowed to a single curb time plus a "leave home now" nudge? That's the paid upgrade — but the free tracking alone gets you off the guesswork.

Text your flight number

Free to start. No app, no account — just WhatsApp.

Frequently asked

Is the curb time the same as the landing time?
No — landing is wheels-down. Taxiing, deplaning, the walk, customs, baggage and the walk to the curb all come after, which is why the curb time is well later.
How much longer do international arrivals take?
International adds customs on top of everything domestic flights do — about 14 extra minutes for a carry-on traveller. For checked-bag travellers the gap shrinks to roughly 7 minutes, because the bags unload while your passenger clears customs.
Should I go by the airline's "landed" time?
Use it as a starting gun, not a curb time. Add the sequence above — or let CurbSync track the live flight and give you the curb time directly.

Go deeper on each step

How long does customs take at Pearson?By time of day and clearance method (NEXUS, kiosk, officer). How long does baggage claim take at Pearson?Belt times by aircraft, and the long tail. When to leave home for a Pearson pickupWorking the curb time back through your drive. Busiest times to pick up at PearsonWhich hours and days stack the deck against you.

Figures describe Toronto Pearson (YYZ) arrivals. Taxi and baggage steps are measured from CurbSync's tracking of 143,000+ arrivals (Aug 2025–Jul 2026); deplane, customs and walk come from CurbSync's curb model. Your specific flight can land well off the typical, which is why CurbSync tracks yours live rather than quoting an average.