As travellers get ready to take off for the March Break, Canada’s largest airport is offering a behind-the-scenes look at how baggage gets to its destination.

Toronto Pearson International Airport is anticipating 140,000 people will move through the airport per day next week, a 10 per cent increase from 2023.

That means staff will likely be moving even more baggage than in past years and in a new video posted on social media, the airport shared exactly how bags are processed through the facility.

According to the airport, Pearson processes around 30 million bags each year, which works out to about 82,000 each day.

“At our busier periods, like March Break, there will be up to 100,000 bags going through our system every day,” Sean Davidson, a spokesperson for the airport, told CP24.com.

“The responsibility of getting a passenger's bag to their destination falls on each individual airline. Toronto Pearson is responsible for the 30 kilometres of conveyer belts that keeps bags moving quickly through the terminal once they're dropped off at the airline's check-in counter. After the bags pass through the conveyer belt, they are loaded onto the plane by each airline's ground handlers.”

While the baggage system is built to accept luggage of all shapes and sizes, Davidson offered some advice for how passengers can help make the process as smooth as possible. The tips include making sure nothing loose is hanging off of your luggage, sticking luggage tags in a flat, unwrinkled area so scanners can easily read it, and weighing your bag as well as knowing the airline’s weight limits in advance.

Pearson's baggage system made headlines in December 2022 after extreme cold temperatures temporarily caused some of the conveyer belts to malfunction, leaving many people without luggage over the holidays.

Davidson said the airport has introduced advanced AI technology into the system over the past year to "greatly improve its resiliency." 

"This state-of-the-art equipment significantly enhances our ability to quickly identify any malfunctions when they do occur," he said. "It's a game-changer for our operations, ensuring that even in the busiest travel season, our passengers' belongings are handled with the utmost care and precision."