Soaring demand: Canadian airports saw record numbers in July

Canada’s airports had a busy July, with 5.8 million passengers passing through pre-board security at the country’s eight largest airports—a 3.6 per cent jump over last year and a 7.8 per cent rise compared to pre-pandemic levels in 2019.

The new data from Statistics Canada signals that air travel demand has not only rebounded but is soaring to new heights.

In July, 1.6 million passengers were screened for international flights (outside the United States), up 9.4 per cent year over year, the agency reports.

READ MORE: Canadian travellers avoiding U.S. trips over politics, study finds

Moreover, international traffic was significantly higher (+12.3 per cent) than the pre-pandemic level recorded in July 2019.

Conversely, transborder passenger traffic (to the United States) in July decreased year over year for the sixth consecutive month, down 7.8 per cent to 1.5 million, albeit on par (+0.5 per cent) with the pre-pandemic level in July 2019.

Domestic passenger traffic was 2.8 million in July 2025, 7.3 per cent higher than in July 2024 and surpassing (+9.4 per cent) the passenger counts recorded in July 2019.

Passenger traffic up

In July, Canada's eight largest airports posted higher volumes of passenger traffic year over year.

Ottawa/Macdonald-Cartier International (+10.4 per cent) posted the largest increase over July 2024.

In terms of a post-pandemic recovery, seven of these eight major airports exceeded their July 2019 pre-pandemic volumes of screened passenger traffic in July 2025, reports StatCan.

Only Ottawa international (-2.7 per cent compared with July 2019) posted a lower volume of screened passenger traffic.

Transborder declines 

In July 2025, transborder passengers accounted for 25.2 per cent of the total number of screened passengers, down from 28.3 per cent in July 2024, StatCan reports.

Transborder traffic is usually concentrated at the four largest Canadian airports: Toronto Pearson, Vancouver International, Montreal/Pierre Elliott Trudeau and Calgary International.

Combined, these four airports represent more than 90 per cent of all transborder traffic, according to StatCan.

In July, all four airports recorded year-over-year decreases in screened passenger counts for flights to the United States: Toronto (-11.9 per cent), Vancouver (-2.7 per cent), Montreal (-7.9 per cent) and Calgary International (-2.1 per cent).

All screened passengers include both Canadian and non-Canadian residents, according to StatCan.

As widely reported, the decline is largely attributed to a weakened loonie and ongoing geopolitical tensions with the United States.

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