StatCan: Domestic Travel Up in February, Transborder Down

Passenger traffic at Canada's major airports edged closer to pre-pandemic levels in February 2025, with 4.2 million travellers passing through pre-board security screening at the country’s eight largest airports. 

Statistics Canada reports a slight 0.4% increase over February 2024, nearly on par with February 2020, the last pre-pandemic comparison point. 

February 2025 had only 28 days, while February 2020 and 2024 both benefited from an extra day due to leap years.

Number of screened passengers at the eight largest airports in Canada, monthly, 2020 to 2025 (Photo Credit: StatCan)

Transborder Travel

While overall passenger traffic remained stable, travel to the U.S. saw a dip. 

Transborder (to the U.S.) passenger numbers dropped 2.0% compared to February 2024, marking the first year-over-year decline in this category since the start of the pandemic. 

Transborder travel was 6.4% below February 2020 levels, continuing a two-month trend of lagging pre-pandemic figures.

International and Domestic 

International travel outside of the U.S. remained steady year-over-year but showed an 11.2% increase over February 2020, indicating strong recovery and growth in global travel demand.

In comparison, overseas passengers increased 1.2% in January 2025 over January 2024, surpassing January 2020 levels by nearly 6%.

Domestic passenger numbers rose 2.5% compared to February 2024. However, they remained 3.3% below pre-pandemic levels from February 2020, highlighting an ongoing but incomplete recovery in Canada's air travel sector.

January 2025 saw a 2.7% increase in domestic travel, year-over-year. This number still falls 3.6% short of pre-pandemic levels from January 2020.

Number of screened passengers at the eight largest airports in Canada by sector, February, 2019 to 2025 (Photo Credit: StatCan)

Airport Performance Across Canada

Six of the eight largest Canadian airports reported year-over-year increases in screened passenger traffic. 

According to StatCan, the biggest percentage gains were seen at:

• Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport (+8.6%)
• Halifax Stanfield International Airport (+5.1%)
• Edmonton International Airport (+4.1%)

 

Two major airports surpassed their February 2020 passenger screening numbers:

• Vancouver International Airport (+9.7%)
• Calgary International Airport (+6.4%)

The eight largest airports in Canada are Halifax Stanfield International, Montréal-Trudeau International, Ottawa International, Toronto/Pearson International, Winnipeg International, Calgary International, Edmonton International and Vancouver International.

Focus on U.S.-Bound Travel

Transborder flights account for a significant share of Canada’s aviation activity, with 27.4% of all screened passengers in 2024 flying to the U.S. 

Four major hubs—Toronto Pearson, Vancouver, Montréal-Trudeau, and Calgary—handle more than 90% of this traffic.

In February 2025, all four of these airports saw year-over-year declines in transborder passenger numbers:

• Toronto Pearson (-2.5%)
• Vancouver International (-4.7%)
• Montréal-Trudeau (-5.6%)
• Calgary International (-3.7%)

 

Screened passengers include both Canadian and non-Canadian residents.

StatCan will continue to monitor changes in air passenger volumes between Canada and the U.S. as travel patterns evolve.

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