Screened passenger traffic at Canadian airports, July 2026
Released: 2026-08-28
5.9 million
July 2026
1.4% 
(12-month change)
Highlights
In July, 5.9 million passengers passed through pre-board security screening at checkpoints operated at Canada's eight largest airports, up 1.4% from July 2025.
Chart 1
Number of screened passengers at the eight largest airports in Canada, monthly, 2021 to 2026
Domestic traffic drives growth
Domestic traffic increased 3.3% year over year to reach 2.9 million in July, as both Vancouver International and Calgary International screened more than 24,000 additional domestic passengers compared with July 2025. Indeed, seven of the eight top airports posted increases in domestic traffic in July 2026, with only Edmonton International (-0.5%) recording a small decline compared with July 2025.
In July 2026, the number of passengers screened for international flights (outside the United States) edged up 0.1% from the same month the previous year to 1.6 million. This occurred amid ongoing travel uncertainty related to the conflict in Iran and high jet fuel prices.
Notably, international traffic was down 2.6% out of Montréal/Pierre Elliott Trudeau International in July, as the airport posted 12,600 fewer passengers compared with July 2025.
Chart 2
Number of screened passengers at the eight largest airports in Canada, by sector, July, 2024 to 2026
Chart 3
Year-over-year percentage change in monthly screened passengers, by sector, 2025 to 2026
Transborder traffic continues down
Transborder traffic (to the United States) declined 0.9% from July 2025 to 1.5 million screened passengers in July 2026, marking the 18th consecutive month of year-over-year decrease. Compared with July 2025, three of the largest airports posted losses in July 2026: Vancouver International (-4.5%), Montréal/Pierre Elliott Trudeau International (-2.0%) and Calgary International (-0.1%).
However, Toronto/Lester B. Pearson International, Canada's largest airport, posted an increase (+1.6%) in screened passenger traffic to the United States for the second consecutive month in July.
Transborder screened passenger traffic in July (-8.7%) was well below the same month in 2024, prior to the shift in Canadian travel sentiment that began in 2025.
Chart 4
Number of screened transborder (to the United States) passengers, July, 2024 to 2026
World Cup
The FIFA World Cup concluded in July, with Canada hosting three matches, including two in Vancouver and one in Toronto. Compared with July 2025, the total number of screened passengers was up 1.7% at Vancouver International and 1.1% at Toronto/Lester B. Pearson International in July 2026.
Note to readers
Data for this release are derived from the Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA) Boarding Pass Security System and include screened traffic at pre-board security screening checkpoints at the eight largest airports in Canada.
The eight largest airports in Canada are Halifax/Robert L. Stanfield International, Montréal/Pierre Elliott Trudeau International, Ottawa/Macdonald-Cartier International, Toronto/Lester B. Pearson International, Winnipeg/James Armstrong Richardson International, Calgary International, Edmonton International and Vancouver International.
Screened passenger traffic includes air travellers required to go through pre-board security screening and excludes aircrew and airport employees. This data series represents a different measure of traffic than the counts of enplaned or deplaned passengers published in Statistics Canada's annual Airport activity report or produced by the individual airports. For example, the screened passenger data will not account for passengers with connecting flights who did not pass through security. For more information, please refer to the "Related information" tab (Definitions, data sources and methods) for this release.
Users interested in accessing daily counts of screened traffic at Canada's major airports can obtain them from the CATSA website.
Contact information
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).
- Date modified: