Major Airports in Canada

Canada is the world’s second-largest country, and aviation is essential to connecting its enormous distances – coast to coast to coast. Despite that vast geography, scheduled passenger traffic concentrates in a handful of southern hubs close to the US border, while smaller airports keep remote northern and island communities linked to the rest of the country.

✈️ See also: Most Active Airlines in Canada — which carriers fly the most routes from Canada, mapped.

Below we map and rank Canada’s major airports by the number of regularly-served nonstop destinations each one flies, drawn from live route data on AirportRoutes. Because the figures come from observed flight data – a large sample rather than a complete published timetable – we treat them as a strong guide to relative connectivity rather than exact, official totals.

Which Canadian airports fly to the US – and internationally?

Canada’s long-haul flying is concentrated in its four biggest hubs. Toronto Pearson (YYZ) is the country’s primary global gateway, with by far the largest intercontinental network. Montréal-Trudeau (YUL) is Air Canada’s main gateway to Europe, Africa and Latin America, while Vancouver (YVR) leads on transpacific links to Asia. Calgary (YYC), WestJet’s home base, rounds out the group as a growing international hub with US preclearance.

Nonstop flights to the United States are dense and run from every major hub. Toronto reaches around 15 US cities – among them New York, Newark, Chicago, Atlanta, Miami, Orlando, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Dallas-Fort Worth and Washington – and Montreal, Vancouver and Calgary each serve a dozen or more. Air Canada and WestJet compete head-to-head with the big US carriers (United, Delta and American), which feed their own hubs. Smaller airports such as Halifax, Ottawa, Winnipeg and Edmonton add winter-sun routes and a handful of year-round US links. A note on the data: some “US connections” that show up for Winnipeg, Edmonton and Halifax – Anchorage, Memphis and Louisville – are freight hubs, not passenger destinations. Far to the north, Yellowknife and Iqaluit have essentially no scheduled US service; Iqaluit’s only international link is a seasonal hop to Nuuk in Greenland.

A closer look at Canada’s biggest airports

🛫 Toronto Pearson (YYZ)

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Toronto Pearson International is Canada’s largest and busiest airport, in Mississauga just west of downtown Toronto. It is the principal hub for Air Canada and a major base for WestJet, Porter and Air Transat, and acts as the country’s main gateway to the rest of the world.

Serving the Greater Toronto Area, Pearson reaches about 153 regularly-served nonstop destinations, including roughly 68 intercontinental routes – by far the most of any Canadian airport. Top destinations include Montreal, Vancouver, New York, Ottawa and Calgary.

Main airlines: Air Canada, WestJet, Porter Airlines, Air Canada Rouge, Air Transat. See the full route map for YYZ on AirportRoutes →

🛬 Montréal–Trudeau (YUL)

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Montréal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International is Canada’s second-busiest airport, in the suburb of Dorval close to downtown Montreal. It is Air Canada’s main gateway to Europe, Africa and Latin America, and the home base of leisure carrier Air Transat.

Serving Montreal, Trudeau reaches about 143 regularly-served nonstop destinations, including roughly 53 intercontinental routes – second only to Toronto. Its transatlantic network to francophone Europe and Africa is especially strong. Top destinations include Toronto, New York, Chicago, Ottawa and Newark.

Main airlines: Air Canada, Air Transat, WestJet, Air Canada Rouge, Porter Airlines. See the full route map for YUL on AirportRoutes →

🌲 Vancouver (YVR)

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Vancouver International sits on Sea Island in Richmond, just south of downtown Vancouver. Canada’s third-busiest airport, it is a major Air Canada hub and the country’s primary gateway to Asia and the Pacific, with a large transpacific network.

Serving Metro Vancouver, YVR reaches about 106 regularly-served nonstop destinations, including roughly 35 intercontinental routes. Top destinations include Calgary, Toronto, Edmonton, Seattle and Kelowna, alongside a dense web of US west-coast links.

Main airlines: Air Canada, WestJet, Flair Airlines, Pacific Coastal Airlines. See the full route map for YVR on AirportRoutes →

🏔️ Calgary (YYC)

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Calgary International is WestJet’s home base and the busiest airport in the Prairies. A gateway to the Canadian Rockies and Banff, it has a US preclearance facility and a steadily growing international network.

Serving Calgary and southern Alberta, YYC reaches about 101 regularly-served nonstop destinations – and the largest domestic network in the country. Top destinations include Vancouver, Toronto, Winnipeg, Regina and Edmonton, plus a heavy slate of US sun and hub routes.

Main airlines: WestJet, WestJet Encore, Air Canada. See the full route map for YYC on AirportRoutes →

🛢️ Edmonton (YEG)

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Edmonton International serves Alberta’s capital from a site well south of the city, and is one of the largest airports in Canada by land area. WestJet and Flair both base aircraft here, and it acts as a gateway to the province’s northern resource regions.

Serving the Edmonton region, YEG reaches about 47 regularly-served nonstop destinations, mostly domestic flights plus sun routes and a handful of US links. Top destinations include Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary, Kelowna and Abbotsford, along with Cancun and Denver.

Main airlines: WestJet, Flair Airlines, Air Canada, WestJet Encore. See the full route map for YEG on AirportRoutes →

🍁 Ottawa (YOW)

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Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International serves Canada’s capital and carries heavy government and business traffic. It is a focus city for both Porter and Air Canada, with a network weighted towards domestic routes plus US and winter-sun destinations.

Serving Ottawa-Gatineau, YOW reaches about 37 regularly-served nonstop destinations. Top destinations include Toronto, Montreal, Halifax, Calgary and Moncton, along with US links such as Chicago, Newark, Washington and Boston.

Main airlines: Porter Airlines, Air Canada, WestJet. See the full route map for YOW on AirportRoutes →

🌾 Winnipeg (YWG)

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Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International sits near the geographic centre of Canada and runs around the clock as a major cargo gateway. It is the base of northern carrier Calm Air and a key link to remote Manitoba and Nunavut communities.

Serving Winnipeg, YWG reaches about 34 regularly-served nonstop destinations, with a domestic-heavy network. Top destinations include Calgary, Toronto, Vancouver, Rankin Inlet and Edmonton, plus US cities led by Minneapolis. Its Memphis and Louisville links are cargo, not passenger, routes.

Main airlines: WestJet, Air Canada, Calm Air. See the full route map for YWG on AirportRoutes →

⚓ Halifax (YHZ)

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Halifax Stanfield International is Atlantic Canada’s largest airport and main gateway, on the outskirts of the Nova Scotia capital. It anchors flights across the Maritimes and Newfoundland and offers the region’s transatlantic links to Europe.

Serving Halifax and the Maritimes, YHZ reaches about 33 regularly-served nonstop destinations, including roughly 15 intercontinental routes. Top destinations include Toronto, St. John’s, Ottawa, Montreal and Calgary, with US links to Newark, Boston, New York, Orlando and Fort Lauderdale.

Main airlines: Air Canada, WestJet, Porter Airlines, PAL Airlines, Air Transat. See the full route map for YHZ on AirportRoutes →

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