Canada is quietly becoming the North American pick for European travellers, and airlines are responding with a wave of new transatlantic routes. With visitor interest in the US dipping, more Europeans are choosing destinations north of the border — and getting there just got easier.

WestJet kicked things off in May with a seasonal service from Cardiff in Wales to Toronto, adding Glasgow in May and Ponta Delgada in the Azores in June. The Canadian carrier has also grown its hub in Halifax, Nova Scotia, with new links to Madrid, Lisbon and Copenhagen — good news for anyone eyeing Atlantic Canada.

Air Canada is joining in next year. From June 2027, the flag carrier will run seasonal flights from Toronto to Oslo, Shannon and Nice, while Montréal gains seasonal routes to Dubrovnik in May and Basel in June. Most of these are summer-seasonal, so booking windows matter.

So which arrival city should you pick? Toronto is Canada's biggest city and a serious food destination — poutine, obviously, but also oddball fusions like Jamaican-Italian cooking and sushi pizza. The CN Tower (yes, you can walk the outside ledge if your nerves allow) anchors the skyline, while Kensington Market and the Distillery District reward slow wandering. In summer, take the ferry to the Toronto Islands, or use the city as a base for day trips to Niagara Falls or the Muskoka Lakes.

Montréal, in French-speaking Quebec, trades big-city polish for old-world atmosphere. Cobblestoned Old Montréal, an underground city that shields you from both summer heat and winter deep-freeze, and a well-known LGBTQ+ nightlife district make it a walking city — bring comfortable shoes.

Halifax is the sleeper pick. Nova Scotia's coastal capital works as a launchpad for the province: the UNESCO-listed town of Lunenburg, the finest surviving planned British colonial settlement in North America; the lighthouse at Peggy's Cove; and the postcard-pretty Mahone Bay are all within reach.

For travellers, this means more direct options and fewer transfers, especially from the UK, Spain, Portugal, Denmark, Ireland, France, Norway, Croatia and Switzerland. If Atlantic Canada appeals, the new Halifax routes in particular open up a region most Europeans skip — cooler summer temperatures, dramatic coastline and far fewer crowds than Toronto in July.