OTTAWA — Good news for harried travellers who resent having to remove their shoes at airport-security checkpoints: now you can just say no.
Canada’s airport security agency has issued a bulletin to front-line officers instructing them they cannot require domestic or international passengers to doff footwear before walking through metal detectors.
In a major exception, however, officers can still order passengers heading for the United States to remove their shoes, consistent with higher air-security standards set by Washington.
As well, if a hand-held metal detector signals an alarm for shoes after the walk-through, a passenger can be required to remove footwear.
And “if a passenger offers to remove footwear, allow them to do so,” adds the directive.
The document was obtained under the Access to Information Act.