A member's friend booked a multi-leg flight (New Delhi → Tokyo → Vancouver → Edmonton), with Edmonton listed as the city of destination on their COPR, and asked whether immigration processing would happen in Vancouver or Edmonton.
What the thread clarified:- Immigration processing happens at your first port of entry into Canada, not necessarily the destination city listed on your COPR. In this itinerary, that's Vancouver, since it's the first Canadian airport the traveler lands at.
- The subsequent domestic leg (Vancouver to Edmonton) is treated as an internal flight taken after you've already formally completed your immigration/landing process as a PR — you're flying as a permanent resident at that point, not going through another immigration check.
- This only applies when you're changing airports/terminals on an international-to-domestic connection — if you're not changing airports on a connecting flight, the same logic about processing at your actual arrival point still applies, but the specifics can vary slightly depending on your itinerary.
The practical takeaway: immigration and landing formalities happen at your first port of entry into Canada — regardless of what city is listed as your final destination on your COPR — and any subsequent domestic leg is taken afterward as a permanent resident.