Ditch the second leg of a return flight and avoid checked baggage issues

I have a trip coming up with Air Canada for which the itinerary looks like this:

YYZ - DXB
DXB - YYZ followed by a 14 hour stopover
YYZ - EWR

My objective is to end my journey at step 2 while being able to obtain my one checked bag.

The options I could think of so far:

I can ask the check-in agent in Dubai to check my bag only to YYZ but I don't know if this is even possible.
In Toronto, when flying to the U.S., one usually has to pre-clear U.S. Customs and so I am hoping I may be forced to pick up my bag before attempting to clear U.S. Customs.

Are any of the above alternatives feasible? Do I have any other options?

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What happens if you skip the second leg of a flight?

But by skipping a leg of a connecting flight, you're breaching the airline's Conditions of Carriage, which gives them the right to cancel all of your frequent flyer points and any other bonuses. It's the only REAL penalty that airlines sometimes (but still very rarely) enforce.

Can you abandon the last leg of a flight?

If you are flying within the USA and have no checked baggage to a final destination, then skipping the final leg of a journey is usually fine. There's no penalty for cancelling (as the missed leg is the end of your trip), and you can just leave the flight with hand luggage without any worries.

Can you skip a leg of a flight?

Can I skip the first leg of my flight? No, you cannot skip the first leg of any itinerary. As stated above, after you've skipped a flight, all remaining flight legs on your itinerary will be canceled by the airline. It may seem silly, but this is a common mistake many infrequent travelers make.

Can I skip the return flight?

But if you intentionally miss the last leg of the journey, your ticket won't be cancelled, as there is nothing left for the airline to cancel. If you skip the first flight, your return flight also gets cancelled. To avoid that, don't ever skip a flight on a return flight.

What happens when your bags are delayed at another airport?

Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

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