Thousands of air travelers across Canada are facing major disruptions today as 104 flights have been cancelled and at least 332 delayed at key hubs including Calgary, Montreal, Vancouver, Toronto, Ottawa, and Halifax.

The rolling wave of disruption is affecting operations at Air Canada, WestJet, Jazz, Porter, and a host of international carriers, leaving passengers stranded in terminals, stuck on aircraft awaiting slots, or scrambling to rebook as an already stretched winter schedule buckles under pressure.

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Nationwide Disruptions Hit Canada’s Busiest Hubs

The latest data compiled from flight tracking and airport operations dashboards shows a fresh spike in cancellations and delays concentrated at Canada’s largest gateways. Toronto Pearson, Montreal Trudeau, Vancouver International, Calgary International, Ottawa Macdonald Cartier, and Halifax Stanfield have all reported a sharp rise in irregular operations, combining for 104 cancelled flights and 332 delays by early evening.

At Toronto Pearson, the country’s largest hub, passengers woke to departure boards already peppered with red notices. Delays there quickly rippled into connecting banks in Calgary and Vancouver, and then on to Montreal, Ottawa, and Halifax. With the majority of Canada’s domestic network flowing through a handful of hubs, even modest chokepoints can rapidly cascade, stranding travelers well beyond the airports initially affected.

Airport duty managers across several cities activated contingency protocols that include extended staffing for de-icing, stepped up customer-information announcements, and efforts to re-time certain departures to ease congestion. Despite these measures, terminals have filled with long queues at customer service desks as travelers wait to be rerouted.

Air Canada, WestJet, Jazz, and Porter Bear the Brunt

National carriers Air Canada and WestJet, together with regional affiliates and competitors like Jazz and Porter Airlines, are carrying the bulk of today’s disruption. As the dominant operators at Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, and Calgary, any operational slowdown at their bases inevitably has outsized effects on the wider network.

Air Canada has been forced to cancel and delay a significant number of mainline and regional services, particularly on high-frequency routes linking Toronto with Montreal, Ottawa, and Western Canada. Jazz-operated regional flights have seen knock-on impacts, as crew and aircraft scheduled for short-haul hops become unavailable when inbound services arrive late or are held on the ground for safety or flow-control reasons.

WestJet and its WestJet Encore regional arm are facing similar problems in Calgary and Vancouver, where disruptions in early morning departures have stretched through the day. Porter, which has grown its presence in Ottawa, Montreal, and Toronto, has also had to pull flights from the schedule and hold departures, contributing to the mounting tally of delayed services.

International carriers relying on Canadian hubs for transatlantic and transpacific services have not been spared. When inbound aircraft miss their arrival slots or face extended taxi and de-icing times, turnarounds take longer, which can push long-haul departures past crew duty limits, forcing last-minute cancellations or overnight delays.

Weather, Congestion, and Crew Constraints Combine to Snarl Operations

Today’s turmoil is the latest in a series of severe operational days for Canadian aviation during the 2025 to 2026 winter period. A run of storms and Arctic fronts in late December and early January has already produced multi-day disruption, with more than a thousand cancellations and several thousand delays logged across the country in recent weeks. That strain has left airlines and airports with limited room to absorb further shocks.

Meteorologists report that fluctuating temperatures, intermittent snow bands, freezing drizzle, and gusty winds around several of the affected cities have created difficult operating conditions. Even when no single airport is completely shut down, the need for repeated de-icing, tighter separation between aircraft, and occasional runway sweeps slows the entire system. Winter weather operations also squeeze ground-handling capacity, as staff must work more slowly and equipment is rotated for safety.

Congestion and air-traffic control flow restrictions have amplified the weather impact. When arrival rates into major hubs are reduced, aircraft may be held at origin airports or placed into airborne holding patterns, creating further delays and forcing airlines to make tactical cancellations to keep the rest of the schedule moving. Crew duty and rest regulations then add another layer of complexity; long delays on an early rotation often mean that pilots and cabin crew cannot operate their later flights, resulting in aircraft sitting idle even when conditions improve.

Industry analysts note that Canadian carriers entered this winter with little spare capacity after a strong rebound in demand through 2025. Tight fleets and high utilization mean that there are fewer backup aircraft and crews to reassign during disruption. As a result, short bursts of adverse weather or congestion are more likely to trigger multi-day recovery efforts, especially when affecting more than one major hub at once.

Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary, Ottawa, and Halifax Feel the Strain

Toronto Pearson remains the epicenter of Canada’s air traffic and has once again emerged as one of the hardest-hit airports today. With dozens of departures and arrivals delayed, Pearson’s problems have resonated across the network, particularly for passengers relying on connections to Western Canada and the Atlantic provinces. Inside the terminals, long lines have formed at airline counters as travelers attempt to salvage holiday returns, business trips, and family visits.

In Montreal, a combination of weather and inbound delays from other hubs has resulted in rows of delayed flights and several cancellations. Jazz and Air Canada services to regional centers have been especially vulnerable to schedule knock-ons, with crews arriving late and aircraft waiting for de-icing or gates. The disruption has spilled over into international operations as well, with some long-haul flights leaving behind connecting passengers whose domestic segments arrived too late.

Vancouver and Calgary, both key WestJet and Air Canada strongholds, have recorded clusters of delayed departures, particularly on heavily trafficked routes to Toronto, Montreal, and regional Western gateways. Flight banks that would normally operate in tight succession have been stretched across the day, with some services pushed back by several hours. Passengers connecting onward to Asia, the United States, and sun destinations have found themselves missing connections and being rebooked onto next-day flights.

Ottawa and Halifax, while smaller than the big three hubs, have nonetheless recorded a conspicuous share of today’s cancellations and delays, particularly on feeder services into Toronto and Montreal. Travelers scheduled to make same-day connections onward to Europe or Western Canada have been urged to monitor their itineraries closely, with many ultimately forced into overnight stays or alternative routings through U.S. airports.

Passengers Face Long Lines, Missed Connections, and Limited Rebooking Options

For travelers caught up in today’s disruption, the most immediate challenges are long waits and uncertainty. Reports from terminals in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary, Ottawa, and Halifax describe crowded check in halls, extended queues at customer service desks, and gate areas filled with passengers glued to departure screens or airline apps as departure times repeatedly slip.

Missed connections have become a defining feature of the day, as even relatively short initial delays cascade into lost onward flights. Families returning from holidays, international students heading back to campuses, and business travelers aiming for early week meetings have all been forced into last minute changes, often constrained by full alternative flights and limited hotel availability near major airports.

Airlines are rebooking affected customers where possible, but the combination of an already busy travel period and earlier weather related disruption has left many flights operating near capacity. In some cases, passengers are being offered itineraries involving multiple stops or routings through U.S. hubs, while others are being moved to flights one or two days later. Airport hotels near Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver have reported a sharp uptick in last minute bookings as travelers accept that they will not be moving on tonight.

Travelers with checked baggage are facing additional complications. When flights are cancelled at short notice, luggage may be held in secure areas until it can be reloaded onto new services. Retrieving bags mid disruption can involve hours of waiting and coordination with ground staff, particularly when baggage systems are already under pressure from the volume of irregular operations.

What Stranded Travelers Can Do Right Now

Passenger rights specialists and travel advisers emphasize that information and proactivity are crucial when facing large scale disruption of the kind Canada is seeing today. Affected travelers are urged to monitor their airline’s app or website and to sign up for text or email alerts, which often provide faster notice of schedule changes than airport departure boards.

When flights are cancelled, passengers booked on Air Canada, WestJet, Jazz, Porter, and other carriers should consult the specific rebooking and compensation policies that apply to their ticket. Under Canadian regulations, airlines generally have obligations to rebook travelers on the next available flight and, in certain circumstances, to provide meals, accommodation, or refunds. The precise entitlements can vary based on whether a disruption is categorized as within the carrier’s control, related to maintenance, or caused by weather and air traffic constraints.

Travel experts advise starting with digital channels such as airline apps, websites, or social media direct messages, which can sometimes secure rebookings faster than standing in line at a staffed counter. At the same time, calling the airline’s customer service center while waiting in line at the airport can double a traveler’s chances of reaching an agent quickly. Those with bookings made through online travel agencies or corporate travel departments may need to coordinate with those intermediaries for changes.

Travel insurance may offer additional protection, including reimbursement for meals, accommodation, and alternative transportation if trips are significantly disrupted. However, coverage varies widely. Passengers are encouraged to keep receipts for any extra expenses they incur and to document delays or cancellations with screenshots or written notices from airlines, which can be important for later claims.

Airlines and Airports Look Ahead to Recovery

Operational control centers at the affected airlines are working to stabilize schedules and plan for recovery once the immediate surge of cancellations and delays subsides. Recovery efforts typically prioritize restoring core domestic trunk routes between major hubs, followed by regional feeders and longer-haul international services that require aircraft to be in specific locations for future rotations.

Airport operators in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary, Ottawa, and Halifax have indicated that ground crews and de-icing teams are scheduled for extended shifts, with additional staff brought in where possible to handle passenger assistance, baggage management, and snow or ice control on aprons and taxiways. The goal is to move as many of today’s delayed flights as safely as possible, while setting up a cleaner slate for tomorrow’s operations.

However, aviation planners caution that the effects of a day like today rarely end when the clock strikes midnight. Aircraft and crews out of position, as well as passengers awaiting rebooked flights, will likely exert pressure on the system for several more days. Some early morning departures tomorrow may already be at risk if aircraft fail to reach their overnight bases on time or if crews approach duty hour limits.

For now, passengers holding tickets over the coming 24 to 48 hours are being advised to check their flight status frequently and to consider adjusting plans if their travel is not urgent. With 104 cancellations and 332 delays already logged and numbers still fluctuating, Canada’s aviation network faces another difficult operational period before a full return to normality is in sight.