List of the busiest airports in Canada explained
The following is a list of the busiest airports in Canada. The airports are ranked by passenger traffic and aircraft movements. For each airport, the lists cite the city served by the airport as designated by Transport Canada, not necessarily the municipality where the airport is physically located.
Since 2010, Toronto–Pearson and Vancouver International Airport have been the two busiest airports by both passengers served and aircraft movements. Toronto-Pearson's location within the most populous metropolitan region of Canada solidifies its top spot amongst all of Canada's airports. Given its advantageous position on the west coast of Canada, Vancouver International has long served as Canada's hub for flights bound for Asia and Oceania. As one of the closest major North American cities to Europe, Montréal-Trudeau has also seen substantial passenger growth in recent years, now serving over 20 million passengers annually, with nearly 15 million on international flights, making it one of North America's busiest international hubs, second only to Toronto-Pearson in Canada.
2023
Canada's busiest airports by passenger traffic
Canada's busiest airports by aircraft movements
(List only includes airports with Nav Canada control towers)
| Rank | Airport | Serves | Aircraft
movements[7] | data-sort-type=number | Rank
change | data-sort-type=number | Annual
change |
|---|
| 1 | Toronto Pearson International Airport | Greater Toronto Area | 380,583 | | 12.4% |
| 2 | Vancouver International Airport | Metro Vancouver | 281,911 | | 7.9% |
| 3 | Boundary Bay Airport | Greater Vancouver | 215,263 | | 6.9% |
| 4 | Calgary International Airport | Calgary | 202,497 | | 6.5% |
| 5 | Montréal–Trudeau International Airport | Greater Montreal | 201,141 | | 12.0% |
| 6 | Abbotsford International Airport | Abbotsford | 182,214 | | 4.3% |
| 7 | Pitt Meadows Airport | Pitt Meadows | 149,997 | 3 | 17.8% |
| 8 | Region of Waterloo International Airport | Regional Municipality of Waterloo | 140,984 | 1 | 4.1% |
| 9 | St. Andrews Airport | Winnipeg | 132,107 | 2 | 7.5% |
| 10 | Calgary/Springbank Airport | Calgary | 130,422 | 1 | 1.0% |
| 11 | Québec City Jean Lesage International Airport | Quebec City | 117,680 | 3 | 12.4% |
| 12 | Montréal/Saint-Hubert Airport | Greater Montreal | 116,721 | | 0.7% |
| 13 | Edmonton International Airport | Edmonton Metropolitan Region | 108,542 | 4 | 10.2% |
| 14 | Victoria International Airport | Victoria | 108,028 | 1 | 6.4% |
| 15 | Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport | Winnipeg | 107,692 | 1 | 5.4% |
| 16 | Thunder Bay International Airport | Thunder Bay | 107,594 | 2 | 21.5% |
| 17 | London International Airport | London | 102,122 | 3 | 17.2% |
| 18 | Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport | Toronto | 99,773 | 5 | 10.5% |
| 19 | Oshawa Executive Airport | Oshawa | 95,514 | 3 | 19.8% |
| 20 | Greater Moncton Roméo LeBlanc International Airport | Moncton | 95,138 | 1 | 8.6% |
| 21 | Ottawa Macdonald–Cartier International Airport | Ottawa | 93,374 | 5 | 7.1% |
| 22 | Saskatoon John G. Diefenbaker International Airport | Saskatoon | 87,829 | 2 | 11.3% |
| 23 | Kelowna International Airport | Kelowna | 84,617 | 2 | 1.4% |
| 24 | Chicoutimi/Saint-Honoré Aerodrome | Saint-Honoré | 73,412 | 1 | 7.4% |
| 25 | Edmonton/Villeneuve Airport | Edmonton | 61,656 | 1 | 2.3% |
| 26 | Langley Regional Airport | Langley Township | 60,486 | 1 | 10.0% |
| 27 | Sault Ste. Marie Airport | Sault Ste. Marie | 57,938 | 1 | 10.0% |
| 28 | Vancouver Harbour Flight Centre | Metro Vancouver | 57,806 | 2 | 18.3% |
| 29 | Fredericton International Airport | Fredericton | 54,455 | 4 | 17.6% |
| 30 | Yellowknife Airport | Yellowknife | 53,519 | | 8.9% |
| 31 | Halifax Stanfield International Airport | Halifax | 52,318 | 2 | 0.5% |
| 32 | Regina International Airport | Regina | 51,753 | 1 | 15.5% |
| 33 | Saint-Jean Airport | Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu | 48,180 | 6 | 36.4% |
| 34 | Windsor International Airport | Windsor | 47,041 | 2 | 3.1% |
| 35 | Prince George Airport | Prince George | 45,834 | 1 | 8.5% |
| 36 | Fort McMurray International Airport | Fort McMurray | 43,465 | 1 | 2.8% |
| 37 | Montréal–Mirabel International Airport | Greater Montreal | 40,480 | 3 | 5.0% |
| 38 | Erik Nielsen Whitehorse International Airport | Whitehorse | 37,836 | | 4.1% |
| 39 | John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport | Hamilton | 36,419 | 2 | 4.6% |
| 40 | Red Deer Regional Airport | Red Deer | 32,983 | | 5.1% |
| 41 | St. John's International Airport | St. John's | 31,701 | | 5.3% |
| 42 | Gander International Airport | Gander | 29,573 | | 11.0% | |
2022
Canada's busiest airports by passenger traffic
Canada's busiest airports by aircraft movements
(List only includes airports with Nav Canada control towers)
| Rank | Airport | Serves | Aircraft
movements[9] | data-sort-type=number | Rank
change | data-sort-type=number | Annual
change |
|---|
| 1 | Toronto Pearson International Airport | Greater Toronto Area | 338,577 | 1 | |
| 2 | Vancouver International Airport | Metro Vancouver | 261,331 | 2 | |
| 3 | Boundary Bay Airport | Greater Vancouver | 201,413 | 2 | |
| 4 | Calgary International Airport | Calgary | 190,091 | 5 | |
| 5 | Montréal–Trudeau International Airport | Greater Montreal | 179,601 | 8 | |
| 6 | Abbotsford International Airport | Abbotsford | 174,748 | 3 | |
| 7 | Region of Waterloo International Airport | Regional Municipality of Waterloo | 135,454 | 1 | |
| 8 | Québec City Jean Lesage International Airport | Quebec City | 134,400 | 1 | |
| 9 | Calgary/Springbank Airport | Calgary | 129,172 | 4 | |
| 10 | Pitt Meadows Airport | Pitt Meadows | 127,284 | 2 | |
| 11 | St. Andrews Airport | Winnipeg | 122,878 | | |
| 12 | Montréal/Saint-Hubert Airport | Greater Montreal | 117,586 | 2 | |
| 13 | Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport | Toronto | 111,538 | 8 | |
| 14 | Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport | Winnipeg | 102,212 | 2 | |
| 15 | Victoria International Airport | Victoria | 101,507 | 1 | |
| 16 | Ottawa Macdonald–Cartier International Airport | Ottawa | 100,555 | 12 | |
| 17 | Edmonton International Airport | Edmonton Metropolitan Region | 98,458 | 5 | |
| 18 | Thunder Bay International Airport | Thunder Bay | 88,524 | 5 | |
| 19 | Greater Moncton Roméo LeBlanc International Airport | Moncton | 87,570 | 5 | |
| 20 | London International Airport | London | 87,106 | 4 | |
| 21 | Kelowna International Airport | Kelowna | 83,377 | 1 | |
| 22 | Oshawa Executive Airport | Oshawa | 79,695 | 7 | |
| 23 | Chicoutimi/Saint-Honoré Aerodrome | Saint-Honoré | 79,254 | 11 | |
| 24 | Saskatoon John G. Diefenbaker International Airport | Saskatoon | 78,913 | 7 | |
| 25 | Fredericton International Airport | Fredericton | 66,119 | 4 | |
| 26 | Edmonton/Villeneuve Airport | Edmonton | 60,260 | 2 | |
| 27 | Langley Regional Airport | Langley Township | 54,968 | 4 | |
| 28 | Sault Ste. Marie Airport | Sault Ste. Marie | 52,671 | 3 | |
| 29 | Halifax Stanfield International Airport | Halifax | 52,063 | 2 | |
| 30 | Yellowknife Airport | Yellowknife | 49,152 | | |
| 31 | Vancouver Harbour Flight Centre | Metro Vancouver | 48,847 | | |
| 32 | Windsor International Airport | Windsor | 45,621 | | |
| 33 | Regina International Airport | Regina | 44,791 | | |
| 34 | Montréal–Mirabel International Airport | Greater Montreal | 42,604 | | |
| 35 | Fort McMurray International Airport | Fort McMurray | 42,282 | | |
| 36 | Prince George Airport | Prince George | 42,226 | | |
| 37 | John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport | Hamilton | 38,185 | | |
| 38 | Erik Nielsen Whitehorse International Airport | Whitehorse | 36,356 | | |
| 39 | Saint-Jean Airport | Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu | 35,313 | | |
| 40 | Red Deer Regional Airport | Red Deer | 34,769 | | |
| 41 | St. John's International Airport | St. John's | 33,468 | | |
| 42 | Gander International Airport | Gander | 33,215 | | | |
2021
Canada's busiest airports by passenger traffic
Canada's busiest airports by aircraft movements
| Rank | Airport | Serves | Aircraft
movements[11] | data-sort-type=number | Rank
change | data-sort-type=number | Annual
change |
|---|
| 1 | Boundary Bay Airport | Greater Vancouver | 211,335 | | |
| 2 | Toronto Pearson International Airport | Greater Toronto Area | 174,588 | | |
| 3 | Abbotsford International Airport | Abbotsford | 169,017 | 1 | |
| 4 | Vancouver International Airport | Metro Vancouver | 166,935 | 1 | |
| 5 | Calgary/Springbank Airport | Calgary | 138,969 | | |
| 6 | Region of Waterloo International Airport | Regional Municipality of Waterloo | 133,293 | 2 | |
| 7 | Québec City Jean Lesage International Airport | Quebec City | 129,649 | | |
| 8 | Pitt Meadows Airport | Pitt Meadows | 125,761 | 1 | |
| 9 | Calgary International Airport | Calgary | 124,108 | 3 | |
| 10 | Montréal/Saint-Hubert Airport | Greater Montreal | 116,628 | | |
| 11 | St. Andrews Airport | Winnipeg | 115,350 | | |
| 12 | Chicoutimi/Saint-Honoré Aerodrome | Saint-Honoré | 107,339 | 1 | |
| 13 | Montréal–Trudeau International Airport | Greater Montreal | 98,857 | 1 | |
| 14 | Victoria International Airport | Victoria | 98,721 | 3 | |
| 15 | Oshawa Executive Airport | Oshawa | 96,678 | 1 | |
| 16 | Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport | Winnipeg | 85,015 | 2 | |
| 17 | Saskatoon John G. Diefenbaker International Airport | Saskatoon | 82,808 | 5 | |
| 18 | Thunder Bay International Airport | Thunder Bay | 81,637 | 3 | |
| 19 | London International Airport | London | 77,099 | 7 | |
| 20 | Kelowna International Airport | Kelowna | 75,581 | 3 | |
| 21 | Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport | Toronto | 73,469 | 1 | |
| 22 | Edmonton International Airport | Edmonton Metropolitan Region | 71,316 | 3 | |
| 23 | Langley Regional Airport | Langley Township | 71,225 | 1 | |
| 24 | Greater Moncton Roméo LeBlanc International Airport | Moncton | 69,855 | 9 | |
| 25 | Sault Ste. Marie Airport | Sault Ste. Marie | 67,725 | 5 | |
| 26 | Montréal–Mirabel International Airport | Greater Montreal | 66,572 | 1 | |
| 27 | Edmonton/Villeneuve Airport | Edmonton | 65,450 | 2 | |
| 28 | Ottawa Macdonald–Cartier International Airport | Ottawa | 64,797 | | |
| 29 | Fredericton International Airport | Fredericton | 57,697 | 15 | |
| 30 | Regina International Airport | Regina | 44,433 | 1 | |
| 31 | Halifax Stanfield International Airport | Halifax | 32,315 | | |
| 32 | Vancouver Harbour Flight Centre | Metro Vancouver | 32,204 | | | |
2020
Air traffic decreased greatly in this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Canada's busiest airports by passenger traffic
Canada's busiest airports by aircraft movements
| Rank | Airport | Serves | Aircraft
movements | data-sort-type=number | Rank
change | data-sort-type=number | Annual
change |
|---|
| 1 | Boundary Bay Airport | Greater Vancouver | 185,431 | 4 | |
| 2 | Toronto Pearson International Airport | Greater Toronto Area | 175,060 | 1 | |
| 3 | Vancouver International Airport | Metro Vancouver | 156,640 | 1 | |
| 4 | Abbotsford International Airport | Abbotsford | 137,265 | 2 | |
| 5 | Calgary/Springbank Airport | Calgary | 128,764 | 2 | |
| 6 | Calgary International Airport | Calgary | 119,546 | 3 | |
| 7 | Québec City Jean Lesage International Airport | Quebec City | 117,390 | 2 | |
| 8 | Region of Waterloo International Airport | Regional Municipality of Waterloo | 107,251 | 4 | |
| 9 | Pitt Meadows Airport | Pitt Meadows | 101,443 | 2 | |
| 10 | Montréal/Saint-Hubert Airport | Greater Montreal | 100,797 | 2 | |
| 11 | St. Andrews Airport | Winnipeg | 99,976 | 4 | |
| 12 | Montréal–Trudeau International Airport | Greater Montreal | 97,385 | 8 | |
| 13 | Chicoutimi/Saint-Honoré Aerodrome | Saint-Honoré | 89,503 | 7 | |
| 14 | Fredericton International Airport | Fredericton | 86,800 | 3 | |
| 15 | Greater Moncton Roméo LeBlanc International Airport | Moncton | 85,581 | 1 | |
| 16 | Oshawa Executive Airport | Oshawa | 80,483 | | |
| 17 | Victoria International Airport | Victoria | 80,121 | 2 | |
| 18 | Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport | Winnipeg | 77,754 | | |
| 19 | Edmonton International Airport | Edmonton Metropolitan Region | 70,183 | 4 | |
| 20 | Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport | Toronto | 69,180 | 7 | |
| 21 | Thunder Bay International Airport | Thunder Bay | 68,775 | | |
| 22 | Saskatoon John G. Diefenbaker International Airport | Saskatoon | 65,257 | | |
| 23 | Kelowna International Airport | Kelowna | 64,093 | | |
| 24 | Langley Regional Airport | Langley Township | 61,354 | | |
| 25 | Edmonton/Villeneuve Airport | Edmonton | 60,267 | | |
| 26 | London International Airport | London | 59,170 | | |
| 27 | Montréal–Mirabel International Airport | Greater Montreal | 56,877 | | |
| 28 | Ottawa Macdonald–Cartier International Airport | Ottawa | 54,053 | 18 | |
| 29 | Regina International Airport | Regina | 39,495 | | |
| 30 | Sault Ste. Marie Airport | Sault Ste. Marie | 35,309 | | |
| 31 | Halifax Stanfield International Airport | Halifax | 35,207 | | | |
2019
Canada's busiest airports by passenger traffic
Canada's 20 busiest airports by aircraft movements
| Rank | Airport | Serves | Aircraft
movements[14] | data-sort-type=number | Rank
change | data-sort-type=number | Annual
change |
|---|
| 1 | Toronto Pearson International Airport | Greater Toronto Area | 455,099 | | 4.35% |
| 2 | Vancouver International Airport | Metro Vancouver | 332,214 | | 2.13% |
| 3 | Calgary International Airport | Calgary | 238,843 | | 2.13% |
| 4 | Montréal–Trudeau International Airport | Greater Montreal | 237,801 | | 1.51% |
| 5 | Boundary Bay Airport | Greater Vancouver | 216,557 | | 10.84% |
| 6 | Abbotsford International Airport | Abbotsford | 164,285 | | 13.77% |
| 7 | Calgary/Springbank Airport | Calgary | 153,668 | 3 | 12.20% |
| 8 | Montréal/Saint-Hubert Airport | Greater Montreal | 145,482 | 4 | 12.68% |
| 9 | Québec City Jean Lesage International Airport | Quebec City | 144,931 | | 5.62% |
| 10 | Ottawa Macdonald–Cartier International Airport | Ottawa | 144,755 | 2 | 3.05% |
| 11 | Pitt Meadows Airport | Pitt Meadows | 142,523 | 6 | 20.8% |
| 12 | Region of Waterloo International Airport | Regional Municipality of Waterloo | 140,703 | 2 | 18.7% |
| 13 | Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport | Toronto | 135,175 | 2 | 0.13% |
| 14 | Edmonton International Airport | Edmonton Metropolitan Region | 133,769 | 7 | 6.18% |
| 15 | St. Andrews Airport | Winnipeg | 132,423 | 1 | 12.22% |
| 16 | Greater Moncton Roméo LeBlanc International Airport | Moncton | 122,308 | 2 | 5.64% |
| 17 | Fredericton International Airport | Fredericton | 121,437 | 2 | 16.4% |
| 18 | Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport | Winnipeg | 115,892 | 3 | 2.08% |
| 19 | Victoria International Airport | Victoria | 113,129 | 6 | 8.13% |
| 20 | Chicoutimi/Saint-Honoré Aerodrome | Saint-Honoré | 94,577 | | 8.84% | |
Canada's 20 busiest airports by domestic, transborder and international passenger traffic
| Rank | Airport[15] | Serves | Domestic | % of total | Trans border | % of total | International | % of total |
|---|
| 1 | Toronto Pearson International Airport | Greater Toronto Area | 17,677,504 | 35.9% | 13,624,310 | 27.7% | 17,880,877 | 36.4% |
| 2 | Vancouver International Airport | Metro Vancouver | 12,288,884 | 47.8% | 6,296,488 | 24.5% | 7,122,123 | |
| 3 | Montréal–Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport | Greater Montreal | 6,884,671 | 35.2% | 4,441,908 | 22.7% | 8,237,082 | 42.1% |
| 4 | Calgary International Airport | Calgary | 11,853,828 | 68.9% | 3,470,496 | 20.2% | 1,872,320 | 10.9% |
| 5 | Edmonton International Airport | Edmonton Capital Region | 6,503,827 | 82.5% | 963,762 | 12.2% | 414,132 | 5.3% |
| 6 | Ottawa Macdonald–Cartier International Airport | Ottawa | 3,868,035 | 77.8% | 680,688 | 17.6% | 421,167 | 8.5% |
| 7 | Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport | Winnipeg | 3,608,739 | 84.4% | 479,359 | 11.2% | 185,795 | 4.4% |
| 8 | Halifax Stanfield International Airport | Halifax | 3,471,941 | 84.1% | 355,796 | 8.6% | 300,506 | 7.3% |
| 9 | Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport | Toronto | n/a | | n/a | | 0 | 0.0% |
| 10 | Kelowna International Airport | Kelowna | 1,818,926 | 92.4% | 99,846 | 5.1% | 50,241 | 2.6% |
| 11 | Victoria International Airport | Victoria | 1,594,847 | 86.4% | n/a | | n/a | |
| 12 | Québec City Jean Lesage International Airport | Quebec City | 1,164,377 | 67.6% | 217,983 | 12.7% | 339,163 | 29.1% |
| 13 | Saskatoon John G. Diefenbaker International Airport | Saskatoon | 1,299,529 | 88.1% | n/a | | n/a | |
| 14 | St. John's International Airport | St. John's | 1,385,675 | 96.6% | n/a | | n/a | |
| 15 | Regina International Airport | Regina | 1,061,654 | 91.2% | n/a | | n/a | |
| 16 | Thunder Bay International Airport | Thunder Bay | | | n/a | | n/a | |
| 17 | Abbotsford International Airport | Abbotsford/Fraser Valley | n/a | | n/a | | n/a | |
| 18 | John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport | Hamilton | n/a | | n/a | | n/a | |
| 19 | London International Airport | London | 627,960 | 93.6% | n/a | | n/a | |
| 20 | Greater Moncton International Airport | Moncton | 608,982 | 92.6% | n/a | | n/a | | |
Notes
A.Statistics Canada figures.
B.Airport operating authority figures.
C.Estimated from graph.
D.Numbers are "suppressed to meet the confidentiality requirements of the Statistics Act".[16]
E.Estimated figure.
Notes and References
- Web site: SJIAA-2023-Annual-Report .
- Web site: Regina International Airport Authority Annual Report 2023 .
- Web site: Hamilton International Releases its 2023 Year in Review . flyhamilton.ca. May 10, 2024.
- Web site: Thunder Bay International Airport 2023 Annual Report .
- Web site: Traffic at YFC increases 25 per cent in 2023, outlook for 2024 even stronger . yfcfredericton.ca . January 11, 2024.
- Web site: London International Airport 2023 Annual Report .
- Web site: Aircraft movements, by class of operation, airports with NAV CANADA services and other selected airports, monthly. February 29, 2024 . Statistics Canada. March 1, 2024.
- Web site: Edmonton International Airport Passenger Statistics December 2022. flyeia.com. January 20, 2023.
- Web site: Aircraft movements, by class of operation, airports with NAV CANADA services and other selected airports, monthly. 21 December 2022 . Statistics Canada. May 8, 2023.
- Web site: Edmonton International Airport Passenger Statistics. flyeia.com. March 26, 2022.
- Web site: Aircraft movements, by class of operation and peak hour and peak day of movements, for airports with NAV CANADA towers, monthly. Statistics Canada. April 30, 2022.
- Web site: Edmonton International Airport Passenger Statistics. flyeia.com. July 31, 2021. August 1, 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210801023954/https://flyeia.com/corporate/wp-content/uploads/December-2020-passenger-stats.pdf. live.
- Web site: Edmonton International Airport Passenger Statistics. flyeia.com. January 31, 2020. June 24, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170624150544/http://corporate.flyeia.com/business-at-the-airport/air-service-development/passenger-statistics. live.
- Web site: Aircraft movements, by class of operation, airports with NAV CANADA towers 2018 . Statistics Canada . March 11, 2020 . July 3, 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130703151402/http://www5.statcan.gc.ca/cansim/a26?lang=eng&retrLang=eng&id=4010023&tabMode=dataTable&srchLan=-1&p1=-1&p2=9 . live.
- https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/t1/tbl1/en/cv.action?pid=2310025301 Air passenger traffic at Canadian airports, annual
- Web site: Air Carrier Traffic at Canadian Airports: User information. Government of Canada, Statistics. Canada. www.statcan.gc.ca. 2014-12-17. 2014-12-18. https://web.archive.org/web/20141218014510/http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/51-203-x/2013000/userinfo-usagerinfo-eng.htm#insidef1. live.
