As summer travel ramps up across the country, new data and airline insights suggest a clear shift in where Canadians are choosing to go, citing an increase to destinations other than the U.S.
Airlines have adjusted their networks to match the trend, while Toronto Pearson International Airport braces for one of its busiest seasons on record as more travellers head to Europe and domestic destinations.
“Our summer travel is now in full swing at Toronto Pearson,” said Sean Davidson, spokesperson for the airport. “We normally see demand for European destinations soar in the summer, and that’s true again this year.”
While Davidson emphasized that airlines are ultimately responsible for scheduling and routing decisions, carriers are clearly responding to demand.
In a statement to Global News, WestJet confirmed it had reduced some Canada-U.S. routes.
Instead, the airline is boosting service within Canada, Europe, and to sun destinations. “WestJet constantly assesses and adjusts the network schedule based on where guests want to fly while relying on the sustained confidence and movement of people on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border,” the airline said.
Porter Airlines has shifted 80 per cent of its summer network capacity to domestic travel, up from 75 per cent previously. “We expect there to be greater interest in domestic travel this year and have added routes and increased flights in regions across Canada to meet this demand,” said Robyn van Teunenbroek, senior manager of communications.
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Pearson spokesperson Sean Davidson said European cities like Rome, Paris, London and Frankfurt are among the most in-demand destinations this year.
“We are seeing a high demand for European travel,” Davidson said.
Toronto Pearson is expecting more than 11 million passengers this summer.
That translates to more than 77,800 departing and arriving flights and roughly 160,000 passengers passing through Pearson on its busiest travel days.
Air Canada also said it has made changes to its U.S. offerings, shifting capacity from sun destinations to routes within Canada and international markets. “We have allocated some of this capacity to Canadian routes for summer domestic travel, and some we have moved to international travel, notably our new Montreal-Edinburgh service,” the airline said in a written statement.
Air Canada also launched new routes to Prague and is offering flights from Toronto to Rio de Janeiro, Cartagena, and Guadalajara.
Though the airline declined to provide passenger data specific to Toronto Pearson, it confirmed it expects to grow its overall network capacity by 1 to 3 per cent this year.
However, the new travel patterns aren’t just occurring within Canada.
A new Europe Pulse Study by Context Research Group for Destination Ontario found that 62 per cent of surveyed leisure travellers from the U.K., Germany and France say the current political climate in the U.S. makes them less likely to visit.
The majority (75 per cent) agree that they feel a sense of solidarity with Canada because both Europe and Canada have been affected by recent U.S. tariffs.
The shift toward Europe and domestic travel appears to be part of a larger rethinking of how travellers are choosing where to go. While the United States remains a key market, data is pointing to how its cultural and political volatility may be causing some travellers to look elsewhere.
The survey shows Canada is increasingly viewed as culturally distinct from its southern neighbour.
Of those surveyed, 87 per cent said Canada is appealing enough to visit on its own, not just as part of a broader North American trip, with 54 per cent considering a trip to Ontario in the next two years, 50 per cent of them to Toronto.
With airlines adapting their networks and millions of passengers moving through airports like Pearson, one thing is clear: travellers are broadening their horizons.
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