I am a J1 Visa holder of the United States and a Philippines passport holder. I have a layover flight of 22 hours at Toronto Canada. Will I be able to go out at the airport and look around and meet my cousin if I have a valid ticket going back to my country - the Philippines.
How does it work with my luggage? Do I need to check out my luggage or it will send directly to my next flight?
According the website, if you want to benefit from the Transit without visa program (assuming it's possible for your flight), you should, among other things
proceed to the CBSA area for clearance or remain in an isolated transit area while waiting for a connecting flight (passengers that leave the isolated transit area must go to the CBSA area for examination)
To get clearance to leave the isolated area and in all other cases, I assume that you would have to follow the general rules, which for a citizen of the Philippines probably means that you need a visa. At least, being in transit or having a ticket to go elsewhere would not automatically exempt you from this requirement. Note that it also means that transit through Canada often requires a visa, even if you don't want to leave the airport.
As TWOV is a special program, you should probably try to check with the airline if you are eligible or not in any case.
