Flying from Kenya to Thunder Bay Land in the right airport, with the right papers.

1. Booking your ticket to Thunder Bay (YQT)

Your first landing in Canada is at a larger airport. From Nairobi (NBO) or Mombasa (MBA), that is often Toronto Pearson (YYZ) or Montreal (YUL). Thunder Bay International Airport (YQT) is the domestic flight after that. The airport lists Air Canada, Porter Airlines and WestJet among the airlines that fly there, along with others such as Flair and Bearskin.

Toronto has two airports, and they are not interchangeable.

• YYZ is Toronto Pearson, the large airport long-haul flights use.
• YTZ is Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport, downtown on the island.
• You cannot walk from one to the other. If your international flight lands at YYZ and your Thunder Bay flight leaves from YTZ, you collect your bags and cross the city yourself.

On October 27, 2026, Thunder Bay Airport's departure list showed Porter flights to both Toronto City (Billy Bishop) and Toronto, Air Canada flights to Toronto, and a Porter flight to Ottawa (YOW). A WestJet flight that day went to Winnipeg, not Toronto. Schedules change. Before you pay, read the three-letter code on the ticket. "Toronto" is not enough.

• If you miss it: Lakehead tells students that if the queue makes them miss the Thunder Bay flight, they should tell the airline staff, who will book the next one.
• Two separate tickets: check the second airline's rules. It may not rebook you for free.

A Canadian visa lets you ask to enter Canada. It does not let you change planes in another country.

• Every country you change planes in: check its transit rules on its own government site, and ask the airline, before you pay. The US, UK and Schengen rules below are the ones that most often catch people out.
• United States: Kenya is not in the Visa Waiver Program. A connection through an American airport needs a US visa, even if you only change planes. Check travel.state.gov before you buy that ticket.
• United Kingdom and Schengen Europe: an airport transit visa may be required, and it depends on your passport and on any other visas you hold. Check the UK visa tool or the European Commission visa policy pages before you pay.

Driving south from Thunder Bay into Minnesota, to shop or to catch a flight, is a different trip. The visa, the I-94 and the way back are in our crossing into Minnesota guide.

Sources: Thunder Bay International Airport, airlines and departures, checked October 27, 2026; Lakehead University, "Travelling to Canada"; US Department of State, Visa Waiver Program; UK government, "Check if you need a UK visa"; European Commission, visa policy

2. Your first Canadian airport: immigration and your permit

A study permit or work permit is not the letter in your IRCC account. That letter is a port-of-entry letter of introduction.

• A Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) officer examines you at your first Canadian airport, usually Toronto Pearson or Montreal, and that is where the permit is issued.
• Lakehead tells students they get the study permit there, then continue to Thunder Bay. You do not pick the permit up at YQT.

Leave a long connection, several hours. You may have to collect your checked bags, clear customs, and check the bags in again for Thunder Bay. Lakehead warns that the lineup for a study permit can make you miss that flight. CBSA does not publish a clock for how long the lineup takes.

Keep these in your cabin bag, not in checked luggage. You need them when you meet the officer, before your checked bags are with you.

• Passport, and your Canadian visitor visa (temporary resident visa). Kenyan citizens need the visa; an approval letter is not a visa.
• Port-of-entry letter of introduction for a study permit or a work permit. IRCC says this letter is not the permit. A printed copy is best. If you do not have one, IRCC says you can show an electronic copy, or the visitor visa in your passport.
• Students: your letter of acceptance, and proof you can pay for your stay (Lakehead also lists a confirmation of enrolment and a tuition receipt). If you needed a provincial attestation letter to apply, keep it with the acceptance letter. The rules for that letter are in our moving to Canada guide.
• Workers: the same kind of letter of introduction. Bring the job offer, and any labour market impact assessment (LMIA), that your approval tells you to carry.
• Permanent residents: your Confirmation of Permanent Residence (COPR). If you are outside Canada, IRCC says you present it to the CBSA officer at the port of entry, and the officer signs it. That is not something you do later in Thunder Bay.
• Permanent residents, packing: IRCC also says not to pack these documents in your luggage, and to keep them with you at all times.
• The address of your first night. Lakehead's free airport ride only works if you already have a place to stay.

Proof of health insurance (students: see UHIP and college plans) belongs in the same cabin bag for after you land. It is not on IRCC's list of documents to show at the port of entry for the study permit.

Sources: IRCC, entry requirements by country; IRCC, "What is a port of entry (POE) letter?"; IRCC, "Study permit: Prepare for arrival"; Lakehead University, "Travelling to Canada"; IRCC, "Confirmation of Permanent Residence document"; IRCC, "Prepare to cross the border"

3. Customs: food from Kenya, luggage, and cash

Declare everything you are bringing. That includes food, plants and animal products, on the CBSA Declaration Card, at a primary inspection kiosk, or out loud to the officer.

• If you do not declare food, plants, animals or related products, CBSA says they can be confiscated, and you may be fined or prosecuted.
• If you do not declare goods, or you declare them falsely, CBSA can seize them.
• A penalty to get seized goods back can be 25% to 70% of their value.

The food rules below are CFIA's rules for travellers coming from a country other than the United States, which is the list that applies to Kenya. You still declare an item even when it is allowed. The limit for personal use is per person. For a specific product, check CFIA's Automated Import Reference System (AIRS) before you pack it.

• Tea (majani), coffee and spices: CFIA lists spices, tea and coffee with no extra restriction, up to 20 kg per person.
• Meat (nyama): fresh, dried and cured meat is not permitted. That includes sausages and dried meat such as biltong. The only meat exception is narrow: commercially prepared, cooked, shelf-stable meat in a sealed container, carried by you, with the country of origin marked, and extra rules if it contains beef. Do not pack meat and hope. Check AIRS.
• Milk and dairy (maziwa, mala): CFIA allows only ice cream, yogurt, kashk and pasteurized cheese from any country, up to 20 kg or 20 L. Milk and fermented milk are not on that list.
• Fresh fruit and vegetables: CFIA says to check AIRS. They may be restricted or prohibited depending on the country.
• Nuts, grains and seeds, including seed or grain you would plant: check AIRS. They may be restricted or prohibited depending on the country. Plants have to be declared either way.

Cash. There is no limit on how much money you can bring into Canada, and CBSA says it is not illegal.

• When to report: if you are carrying CAN$10,000 or more, in cash or in monetary instruments (cheques, money orders, bank drafts, traveller's cheques), in Canadian dollars or any mix of currencies, you must report it.
• How: at an airport kiosk, on the CBSA declaration card if you are given one, through Advance Declaration, or out loud to the officer.
• Watch: not reporting can mean the money is seized.

Sources: CBSA, "Declare your travel items"; CFIA, "Bringing food into Canada for personal use" and Automated Import Reference System (AIRS); CBSA, "Travelling with CAN$10,000 or more"

4. Thunder Bay airport (YQT) and getting into town

From October through April, pack your warm coat, hat, gloves and closed shoes in your cabin bag, and put them on before you walk outside the terminal. How cold the winter actually gets is in our winter guide.

The first month after you land, starting with your SIN and your health card, is in your first 30 days.

Sources: Thunder Bay International Airport, transportation; Lakehead University, "Travelling to Canada"; Confederation College, "Thunder Bay and our location"; City of Thunder Bay, transit schedules and maps

This page is general information, not immigration advice. Airline routes, transit-visa rules and border procedures change. Confirm the airport code on your ticket, and the official page linked above, before you pay or fly.

Next guide: Your first 30 days →