Canada represents a drop in the ocean in terms of global air traffic. Though tens of millions of people set foot in Canadian airports annually, the country has historically ranked in the mid-teens among the world’s busiest hubs. However, passenger numbers are increasing, in line with a global rebound since the pandemic caused widespread groundings, and Canada’s airports as a whole have become busier and busier.

Its eight largest airports recorded some 58.2 million departing passengers last year, according to security screening figures from the Canadian government. This meant footfall across the top eight was up 2.1% year-on-year and had jumped by 4.8% against 2019, before the pandemic. While that barely scratches the surface of the 9.8 billion passengers projected by the Airports Council International to have boarded flights worldwide over the year, the broad picture is one that shows Canada’s aviation market as growing, leaving with its work cut out moving into the future.

Toronto Pearson Well Ahead

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Canada’s airports by no means handle anywhere near equal amounts of traffic. Which hub is busiest? Well, it does not take looking further than Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ) for a clear answer. Based on the most recent full-year statistics for each airport, Toronto sits well ahead as the busiest, having served approximately 46.8 million passengers in total in 2024.

Given that the second busiest, Vancouver International Airport(YVR), handled just under 30 million people in 2025, the answer is clear. Toronto dealt with almost 17 million additional passengers a year earlier and has seen increasing figures since then.

What is more, the airport serving Canada’s largest city supported over 50,000 roles prior to the pandemic, making it the largest airport in terms of connected jobs and even Canada’s second-largest employment zone, according to the airport. With an area of 4,600 acres – or equivalent to almost 12,500 hockey arenas, as the airport itself puts it – and housing five main runways, Toronto is also among the largest in terms of size.

Serving Canada’s Largest City

Credit: Air Canada

Realistically, it is unsurprising that Toronto Pearson is Canada’s busiest airport. Indeed, with a population of over 3 million as of last year, it serves passengers headed to and from the nation’s largest city, as well as its main financial center.

International passengers account for the vast majority of traffic at the airport itself. Its most recent results from November for the third quarter of last year showed 35.8 million people had passed through the airport over the first nine months of 2025, aiding revenue of $1.6 billion during the period. Of these, some 22.8 million people were headed to and from international destinations.

Statistics on Canada’s top five airports by passenger numbers:

Overall, transborder flights to and from the United States account for a large share of Canadian air traffic. Some 23.2% of screened passengers, or 1.1 million people, headed for the United States from Canada’s eight largest airports in December, per government data. Domestic passengers totaled just over two million. Meanwhile, international routes from Canada, excluding the United States, drew almost 1.7 million people.

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Canadian Travel Trends Shifting Recently

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However, air movement from Canada has observed a clear shift over the past year. It is no secret that Canadians have responded to Donald Trump’s presidency by altering plans that previously consistently featured trips to the United States. Indeed, threats around the United States annexing Canada amid a heated trade war between the two since Trump took office were met with far-reaching calls for an “elbows up” response – alluding to hockey terminology whereby the opposition is punished.

The result? As global air traffic has continued to increase, the number of passengers heading to and from the United States has fallen in recent months. According to Statistics Canada, December 2025 marked the eleventh consecutive month in which air traffic to the United States declined year over year. This meant United States-bound traffic dropped by 7.5% over the full year compared with 2024, as each of Canada’s eight largest airports recorded declines. Alternatively, passengers have increasingly appeared to opt for destinations such as Mexico, Portugal, the Bahamas, and Belize instead.

As for Toronto, the third quarter figures blamed a 1.4% decline in international passengers on “the ongoing decline in transborder travel.” Luckily, though, strong growth in domestic passengers helped to partially offset the drop in those heading south of the border. That said, United States-bound travel is far from falling into insignificance, with New York-JFK set to welcome 15,512 Air Canada flights alone this coming March, equating to 2.5 million seats, according to flight data from aviation analytics firm Cirium.

Canada’s Next Busiest Airports

Credit: Vancouver International Airport

Back to Canada itself, several other airports deserve honorable mentions as some of the country’s busiest. As mentioned, Vancouver International Airport marks the second in terms of footfall, having chalked up 26.9 million passengers last year. Opened in 1931, the airport now operates three runways and employs some 24,000 people as of 2016.

Montréal–Trudeau International Airport, with 22.4 million passengers in 2025, comes in third. Whilst it trumps Vancouver by supporting 30,000 workers as of 2017, it is marginally smaller and operates just two runways.

Calgary International and Edmonton International then mark the fourth and fifth busiest in Canada respectively, notching up 19.4 million and 7.9 million passengers over the course of 2025. Both take up a fair amount of room, outdoing the top three on size (more on this below), whilst Calgary also stands out for its four runways.

Toronto Nowhere Near Biggest

Whilst the busiest in terms of footfall, Toronto is well off claiming the title of Canada’s largest airport. In fact, several hubs outdo the busiest in terms of size, leaving 4,600-acre Toronto fourth on the list.

At a whopping 17,000 acres, Montreal-Mirabel International Airport Iis Canada’s largest by size. Edmonton International Airport then comes second at 7,000 acres, ahead of Alberta-based peer, 5,144-acre Calgary International Airport.

The results of a failed attempt to develop one of the largest airports in the world at the time, Montreal-Mirabel, are actually off-limits to passengers nowadays. Whilst passenger services did run historically, Air Transat was the final carrier to pull out, in October 2004. Instead, the giant site is used for private jets, aircraft manufacturing and testing, and has also served as a racetrack and a set for movies such as The Terminal. Its own terminal, however, faced demolition in 2014 – leaving hopes of passengers wanting to fly to Canada’s largest airport anytime soon a distant prospect.

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Toronto Busiest Across Board

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The fact of the matter is, Toronto wipes the floor with its rival airports in terms of footfall. Naturally, this also means it outdoes peers on aircraft movements – being the number of flights landing or taking off at an airport – having topped the rankings of numbers of flights consistently in the years leading up to the pandemic.

Government figures placed Toronto’s total aircraft movements at 455,000 flights in 2019, before the pandemic skewed figures. Vancouver regularly came in second, with 332,000 in the year pre-Covid. Nearby Boundary Bay Airport, and a surprise contender, then sat at third, handling 217,000 flights over the year, driven largely by its extensive use for training and as relief for Vancouver.

Whether changing travel trends among Canadians will eventually see Toronto knocked off its perch in the years ahead, only time will tell. However, having comfortably held the top spot for passenger numbers and aircraft movements for years, Toronto looks well set as Canada’s busiest airport for the time being, particularly as it continues to bolster operations. This includes a record number of new routes over the winter months, as well as plans for a record-breaking summer of transatlantic flights, with some 20 airlines set to operate 34 nonstop routes to Europe from Toronto alone.