Can you walk outside the airport while waiting for connecting flight?

I'm going from Ottawa to vegas but we stop in Toronto for just over 2 hours. Can I leave the airport to see someone i know in Toronto while I wait? Or do i have to stay in a certain area?

Yes, you can. You just can't get back in.

You can leave the Airport. Not really a good idea.

You only have a few minutes.
You must go through US customs in Toronto BEFORE your flight to Vegas.

With just two hours you will spend most of it waiting in line at US Customs. And just getting from one plane to the next.
Your friend could meet you for a FEW minutes at the Airport public area.

In this situation you do not have anytime to leave the Terminal. As you would exit the secure area you would need to also go through a NEW security screen check by CATSA.
Not really a feasible situation for this 2 hour gap between flights.

You do not get off first plane the MINUTE it lands. You DO NOT have until last minute to board next flight.To meet your buddy would also require you to go through another security check.

You could theoretically leave (assuming that the airline doesn't have other restrictions) but by the time you get out (the airport is huge if you haven't been there before), get to where you're going and get back to the airport and through security, you'll miss your connecting flight especially considering that you usually start boarding 20 to 30 minutes before the flight.

Assume your flight is on time. Count on 15 minutes to get your items and get off the plane. 15 minutes to actually leave the airport via arrivals (and that's being extremely generous). Getting to Toronto from Pearson airport takes about 30 minutes in good traffic. 30 minutes back. 30 minutes to get through security. And now you've missed your flight.

Yes, you can leave the airport, that is, you are certainly allowed to leave it, but with only two hours between flights the farthest I would go is the parking lot. Even then, I'd be walking back into the airport at least an hour before flight time because you'll have to go through security again, and I'm not including the time it will take to get through US customs pre-clearance.

If you had more than 4 hours then I'd say it was feasible, but with only two hours, you'll spend all that time disembarking your flight from Ottawa and locating your flight to Las Vegas, as this is an international flight too, it may leave from another terminal or distant gate from your arriving flight.

With only 2 hours, you can't leave the airport - you don't have time to exist then clear security again

Yes… But on a bad day it can take you 2 hours to clear security. And between getting off the first plane, and getting to the next plane and boarding, you have like 45 minutes tops.

I suggest you stay in the secured area because having to go through security again can take a lot of time. It may be better to just call that person and wish them well and meet them in the future if you have a longer connection time.

You could leave but that isn't much time. You would need to go through security again.

2 hours is nowhere near enough time to leave the airport.