Even after President Donald Trump toned down his earlier rhetoric around annexing Canada and calling what was once a friendly ally “the 51st state,” Canadian travel to the U.S. has remained at record lows.
The latest travel numbers released by the Canadian government and crunched by the University of Toronto show that border crossings in May 2026 were down by approximately 42% from the previous year.
Canadian airlines including Air Canada, WestJet, Flair Airlines, and Air Transat have all responded to the lower demand by significantly reducing their flight schedules into numerous U.S. cities.
Air Canada cuts 8 flights to New York, Orlando, and Detroit
Although Canadian airlines have been tweaking their networks periodically throughout the last year, the latest to make cuts is flag carrier Air Canada.
In October 2026, a total of eight routes to various U.S. cities will be either canceled or called off before a planned launch.
Flights between Montréal-Trudeau International (YUL) and Minneapolis-Saint Paul International (MSP) and Detroit Metro Airport (DTW), as well as another from Toronto Pearson (YYZ) to Indianapolis International (IND), will end on Oct. 24 after initially being set to run throughout the winter.
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Flights between Ottawa and Fort Lauderdale, between Québec City and Orlando, and between Montréal and Palm Beach that had initially been set to start in October for the winter sun-seeking season will now launch only in December.
Two routes to New York’s JFK from Montréal and Toronto that were set to restart in October after a summer break have now been removed from the schedule. The reductions were first reported by aviation website Simple Flying and have not been officially confirmed by Air Canada.
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Why is Air Canada cutting more flights to the U.S. in 2026?
Mark Galardo, Air Canada’s executive vice president of revenue and network planning, had previously told investors that cutting U.S. routes was part of a “derisk” strategy, whereby the airline was trying to be “proactive and move capacity into other sectors [where] we see strength.”
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According to the refund policy stated on Air Canada’s website, travelers whose flight was canceled by the airline are entitled to be rebooked or refunded to their original method of payment.
With the end of service still months away, passengers who already booked travel beyond that date should be contacted by the airline in the coming weeks.
Air Canada has never directly tied reductions in its U.S. network to the political situation between the two countries. Still, the lower travel numbers ultimately trickle down to fewer tickets sold and losses stemming from unprofitable routes.
Earlier in the year, Air Canada also announced route cancellations between Toronto and Sacramento, Toronto and Charleston, and Vancouver and Raleigh-Durham, TravelPulse Canada confirmed.
A report based on flight log data from aviation analytics firm OAG Aviation showed that capacity reductions on U.S. flights for the first half of 2026 were at 19% for WestJet, 7% for Air Canada, and 58% for Canadian low-cost carrier Flair Airlines.
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