Screened passenger traffic at Canadian airports, October 2024
Released: 2024-11-28
4.7 million
October 2024
3.6% 
(12-month change)
Highlights
In October, 4.7 million passengers passed through pre-board security screening at checkpoints operated at Canada's eight largest airports, 3.6% higher than in October 2023 and 5.2% above the pre-COVID-19 pandemic level in October 2019.
Transborder and international traffic remains strong
In October, international screened passenger traffic (outside of the United States) grew 7.2% over October 2023, as all of Canada's largest airports posted increases. Moreover, total international screened passenger counts in October 2024 exceeded the pre-pandemic level from October 2019 by 7.5%.
Transborder (to the United States) traffic in October 2024 was 7.0% higher than in the same month in 2023 and 3.5% higher than in October 2019.
The number of passengers screened for domestic flights in October 2024 dipped 0.2% below that of the same month in 2023 but was 5.0% above that of October 2019.
Chart 1
Number of screened passengers at the eight largest airports in Canada, monthly, 2019 to 2024
Sustained traffic growth at all airports
On the continued strength of international traffic, all of Canada's eight largest airports experienced higher total screened passenger volumes year over year in October.
In terms of post-pandemic recovery, Calgary International and Montréal/Pierre Elliott Trudeau International led the way in October. Calgary International's screened passenger counts were 18.1% higher than in October 2019, while Montréal/Pierre Elliott Trudeau International (+8.7%) also posted counts notably higher than those reported for October 2019.
Chart 2
Number of screened passengers at the eight largest airports in Canada, by sector, October, 2019 to 2024
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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).
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