Air Canada has one of its busiest expansion years in recent memory underway. The Montreal-based carrier is rolling out 31 new nonstop international routes from October onwards, according to data from aviation analysts Cirium, and 11 of them are long-haul. The rest lean heavily into something Canadian travellers reliably want: winter sun.
The long-haul news is the headline grabber. From Montreal, four new routes will connect to Basel in Switzerland, Dubrovnik in Croatia, Quito in Ecuador, and Tenerife South in the Canary Islands - a genuinely varied mix of alpine, Adriatic, Andean and Atlantic island getaways. Toronto picks up its own flights to Quito and Tenerife (53 rotations planned between October 2026 and August 2027), plus new service to Nice, Oslo and Shannon in Ireland. Out west, Vancouver gains two transpacific links to Guangzhou in China and Sapporo in Japan - good news for skiers eyeing Hokkaido's powder season.
But the bulk of the expansion is aimed squarely at leisure travellers chasing warmth. Toronto adds nonstops to Guatemala City, Mérida in Mexico's Yucatán, and Roatán, the diving-friendly Honduran island. Montreal gets Roatán too, plus new flights to Aruba and Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, and a winter route to Fort Myers in southwest Florida with 14 rotations scheduled.
The spread beyond the big three hubs is what makes this round notable. Vancouver also picks up short-haul routes to Liberia in Costa Rica plus Mazatlán, Monterrey and Puerto Escondido in Mexico. Calgary gets new Cancún and Puerto Vallarta service, while Edmonton links to Montego Bay. Winnipeg gains both Puerto Vallarta and Punta Cana, Ottawa adds Montego Bay, Quebec City launches Pointe-à-Pitre in Guadeloupe, and Halifax ties itself to Bridgetown in Barbados and Montego Bay. In practice, that means fewer connections through Toronto for sun-seekers in smaller cities - a real quality-of-life change for winter travel from the Prairies and Atlantic Canada.
Why it matters: whether you're planning a summer city break in Europe, a ski trip to Japan, or an escape from February to the Caribbean or Central America, the odds of finding a nonstop from your home airport just improved. Book early on the seasonal routes - new Caribbean and Mexico frequencies tend to fill fast for peak winter weeks, and the niche long-haul additions like Dubrovnik and Tenerife are exactly the kind of routes that get trimmed if loads disappoint.
