Canadian demand for the Dominican Republic has jumped sharply in 2026, and the country's airports are answering with a wave of new nonstop routes for the winter season. The biggest story is outside Punta Cana: Puerto Plata and Samaná are posting double-digit growth from the Canadian market, with Samaná traffic up a striking 62 percent compared to 2025, according to airport operator Aerodom.
The airlift is keeping pace. In the capital, Air Canada will launch nonstop service from Montreal to Santo Domingo in December, adding a direct option for travellers heading to a city that has been quietly building out its hotel scene and international connections.
Puerto Plata gets the heaviest Canadian push. Air Transat starts a new weekly route from London, Ontario in December, and WestJet adds weekly service from Winnipeg — both following on existing WestJet expansion in Puerto Plata and Samaná. Aerodom expects Canadian seat capacity into Puerto Plata to rise roughly 20 percent for winter 2026-2027. Air Transat currently leads the market there with about 153,000 passengers carried, ahead of WestJet's 113,000-plus, and Air Canada's Puerto Plata traffic is already up 22 percent year on year.
Samaná is the fastest riser. Canadian passenger numbers there have grown 62 percent, with Air Transat carrying roughly 44,000 travellers, WestJet around 31,000 and Air Canada about 19,000. Seat capacity for the coming winter is forecast to jump about 39 percent. That growth matters because Samaná — and spots like Las Terrenas on the peninsula — have long required more effort to reach than Punta Cana. More direct seats mean fewer connections for anyone chasing the peninsula's beaches, whale-watching season and low-key resort towns.
The wider context: Canadians are travelling to the Caribbean in force this year, with nearly every island seeing gains. For the Dominican Republic, the shift is about geography as much as volume. The Canadian market used to be concentrated in Punta Cana; it's now spreading across the north coast, the northeast peninsula and the capital.
For travellers, this is a good moment to book. New winter routes from Montreal, Winnipeg and London, Ontario mean shorter trips to parts of the country that feel noticeably different from the Punta Cana strip — the surf-and-sunset vibe of Puerto Plata's north coast, or the French-inflected beach towns of Samaná. More competition on these routes also tends to mean better fares, especially if you book early for December through March.