Bain There, Done That: 5 of My Best YYZ Terminal 1 Hacks

By Jennifer Bain | Published April 6, 2026

Bain There, Done That is Jennifer Bain’s bi-weekly column about travelling Canada in search of quirk.

Subscribe to the Modern Traveller Newsletter to get terrific travel articles like this one straight to your inbox!

Scenes from Terminal 1 of Toronto Pearson International Airport, otherwise known as YYZ/Jennifer Bain

I spend so much time at YYZ, it feels like my second home.

In the decade that I’ve been a travel writer who flies out of Toronto Pearson International Airport several times a month, I’ve learned a few tricks — especially at Terminal 1 where all my Air Canada and Star Alliance flights depart.

Here are five of my hard-earned secret hacks.

Renee’s International Security Hack

From here in the domestic part of YYZ Terminal 1, there’s an internal route to international departures tucked in by Air Canada Customer Service/Jennifer Bain

Fellow travel writer Renée Suen revolutionized the way I move through YYZ for international flights with one of her “Random Airport Reports.”

“If you have Nexus, you can use it to expedite your security experience,” she wrote on Facebook during the 2023 Christmas crush. “Instead of going to gate E, head to D (aka domestic) and go through Nexus (no lines) then loop around to international. I didn't have to stop. Didn't have to remove shoes, liquids or take out electronics. Just powered through almost like when I travel through Terminal 3. It was great!”

I do have NEXUS and while this hack sounds sketchy, it does work. I’ve already used it this year for trips to Japan, Turks and Caicos Islands and Italy.

Once you’re through domestic security, just follow the purple “Connections” signs that lead down some very long halls to E (international) and F (U.S.A.) gates. You’ll have to show your boarding pass one extra time for international. (I’ve never done this for U.S.A.) Easy peasy.

This is a great hack when the regular international security lines are slammed, when you want to grab your favourite airport snacks from the domestic side of things, and when you simply want to avoid the hassle of pulling out your liquids and laptops.

NEXUS for the Win

Whether you’ve noticed it or not, there’s a dedicated NEXUS line at YYZ Terminal 1 when you arrive from international or U.S. flights/Jennifer Bain

NEXUS is a Canada-U.S. trusted traveller program that speeds up airport security and customs processing for pre-approved travellers.

You apply online, authorize a background check and eventually go for in-person interviews (that was done jointly when I first applied but currently involve two separate interviews with Canadian Border Services Agency and U.S. Customs and Border Protection) and share your biometrics.

The application fee is $120 USD for a five-year membership so it’s a good deal. I’ve made my whole family join, even if they only fly once a year.

I love NEXUS because it means I’m typically waved through U.S. pre-clearance at YYZ without having to speak to anyone. But I mostly swear by it because of the untold hours I’ve saved at YYZ by using the NEXUS lines. The program is now in 10 Canadian airports.

People try to tell me they don’t need NEXUS if they’re not going to the U.S., but I use it all the time for Canadian and international travel. That’s because — as above — it lets me use a dedicated security line when I’m departing YYZ for places in Canada and abroad. And it lets me go to NEXUS self-serve kiosks or e-gates coming home.

If you do travel to the U.S., it gets you TSA PreCheck. The one big difference is that for NEXUS you flash your membership card at the airport, and for TSA PreCheck, you need to input all your details when you check in so it appears on your boarding pass.

The Perfect Starbucks Mobile Order

Wherever I fly, I can usually rely on Starbucks to have some healthy offerings like oatmeal and egg bites/Jennifer Bain

It can take longer to order something at Starbucks (or Tim Hortons) than it does to clear security at Terminal 1. For that reason, I don’t know why more people don’t place mobile orders to skip the line.

I also don’t know why people complain they can’t find healthy options at YYZ. My go-to Starbucks order includes some variation of these three things — eggs, oatmeal and tea.

Egg white and roasted red pepper egg bites provide 12 grams of protein for 170 calories if you follow those things. They taste good and travel well. And you can’t go wrong with rolled and steel cut whole-grain oats with dried fruit and a nut medley. I skip the brown sugar packed and ask for liquid honey. I order these things for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

As a beverage addict who can’t drink coffee (weird, I know), I’m currently on a chamomile mint blossom tea jag. Be warned that it’s not actually herbal but is a green tea blend — and that it’s fruity and assertive, not boring like most chamomile offerings.

A venti comes with two tea bags so I ask for one on the side to drink later and stretch my travel dollars.

More Healthy Eats From Hearth Market Kitchen

While I don’t love Hearth’s chocolate overnight oats, I do love the berry overnight oats/Jennifer Bain

I’m a huge fan of the $8.50 berry overnight oats at Toronto chef Lynn Crawford’s two YYZ spots. They combine rolled oats, oat milk, chia seeds, strawberries, blueberries and raspberries and use maple syrup as a sweetener.

You can get them to go at the Hearth restaurant after security by gate F60 if you’re USA-bound, or at the grab-and-go Hearth Market Kitchen on the domestic side of things near gate D42. This is where I can also get kombucha (Rise lychee and jasmine), coconut water (Thirsty Buddha) and oat milk (Earth’s Own).

As an aside, it only recently registered that there’s a 7-Eleven just outside domestic arrivals on Level 1 of Terminal 1. I stopped there in March to try the Japanese chain’s new attempt to bring us the “egg sandos” that we’ve all fallen in love with in Japan.

It’s not quite there yet but the milk bread is crustless as it should be and the eggs are mixed with Japan’s beloved Kewpie mayo. The sandwich I had was a reasonable $5.95 and branded as “Japanese Style Egg Salad Sandwich.”

In Praise of Airport Shoeshines

Getting shoeshines at YYZ prolonged the life of my now-retired Blundstones with multi-coloured elastics/Jennifer Bain

This isn’t so much a hack as a gentle nudge to help keep the art of shoeshining alive.

See, whenever I’m wearing my Blundstones — which is often, since they take me through all kinds of mucky weather all around the world — I stop for some TLC at Walter’s Shoe Care.

Times have been tough for airport shoeshiners since business travel hasn’t fully recovered from the pandemic, but they tell so many Canadians wear these leather boots from Tasmania they’re practically a national uniform.

For less than $20 (counting a tip), you can climb up on one of those showy shoeshine booths and savour the experience.

Travel writer Jennifer Bain stops for a festive photo at YYZ in December 2024 on her way to Newfoundland and Labrador/Jennifer Bain

Coming April 20: An Ode to Housekeeping Hang Tags