Travel to Europe, domestic trips soar as Canada–U.S. tensions shift patterns
As summer travel ramps up across the country, new data and airline insights suggest a clear shift in where Canadians are choosing to go, citing an increase to destinations other than the U.S.
Airlines have adjusted their networks to match the trend, while Toronto Pearson International Airport braces for one of its busiest seasons on record as more travellers head to Europe and domestic destinations.
“Our summer travel is now in full swing at Toronto Pearson,” said Sean Davidson, spokesperson for the airport. “We normally see demand for European destinations soar in the summer, and that’s true again this year.”
While Davidson emphasized that airlines are ultimately responsible for scheduling and routing decisions, carriers are clearly responding to demand.
In a statement to Global News, WestJet confirmed it had reduced some Canada-U.S. routes.
Instead, the airline is boosting service within Canada, Europe, and to sun destinations. “WestJet constantly assesses and adjusts the network schedule based on where guests want to fly while relying on the sustained confidence and movement of people on both sides of the Canada-U.S. border,” the airline said.
Porter Airlines has shifted 80 per cent of its summer network capacity to domestic travel, up from 75 per cent previously. “We expect there to be greater interest in domestic travel this year and have added routes and increased flights in regions across Canada to meet this demand,” said Robyn van Teunenbroek, senior manager of communications.
Get breaking National news
For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen.
Pearson spokesperson Sean Davidson said European cities like Rome, Paris, London and Frankfurt are among the most in-demand destinations this year.
“We are seeing a high demand for European travel,” Davidson said.
Toronto Pearson is expecting more than 11 million passengers this summer.
That translates to more than 77,800 departing and arriving flights and roughly 160,000 passengers passing through Pearson on its busiest travel days.
Air Canada also said it has made changes to its U.S. offerings, shifting capacity from sun destinations to routes within Canada and international markets. “We have allocated some of this capacity to Canadian routes for summer domestic travel, and some we have moved to international travel, notably our new Montreal-Edinburgh service,” the airline said in a written statement.
Air Canada also launched new routes to Prague and is offering flights from Toronto to Rio de Janeiro, Cartagena, and Guadalajara.
Though the airline declined to provide passenger data specific to Toronto Pearson, it confirmed it expects to grow its overall network capacity by 1 to 3 per cent this year.
However, the new travel patterns aren’t just occurring within Canada.
A new Europe Pulse Study by Context Research Group for Destination Ontario found that 62 per cent of surveyed leisure travellers from the U.K., Germany and France say the current political climate in the U.S. makes them less likely to visit.
The majority (75 per cent) agree that they feel a sense of solidarity with Canada because both Europe and Canada have been affected by recent U.S. tariffs.
The shift toward Europe and domestic travel appears to be part of a larger rethinking of how travellers are choosing where to go. While the United States remains a key market, data is pointing to how its cultural and political volatility may be causing some travellers to look elsewhere.
The survey shows Canada is increasingly viewed as culturally distinct from its southern neighbour.
Of those surveyed, 87 per cent said Canada is appealing enough to visit on its own, not just as part of a broader North American trip, with 54 per cent considering a trip to Ontario in the next two years, 50 per cent of them to Toronto.
With airlines adapting their networks and millions of passengers moving through airports like Pearson, one thing is clear: travellers are broadening their horizons.
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
A new poll by Leger has found that Quebec residents are the happiest in Canada.
The web survey of nearly 40,000 Canadians found that Quebecers rated their happiness at an average of 72.4 out of 100, which is well above the national average.
New Brunswick followed Quebec with an average of 70.2, while Manitoba and Prince Edward Island finished at the bottom of the list.
Mississauga, Ont. had the highest happiness rating of the 10 largest cities, while Toronto was lowest.
Montreal finished second in the category.
The survey found that 49 per cent of respondents said their happiness level was unchanged over the past year, while 23 per said they were happier and 28 per cent said they were less happy.
“These results reveal a population that is both resilient and tested, affected by everyday uncertainty and challenges,” Leger’s executive summary read. “Happiness, while holding its ground overall, shows signs of fragility.”
Get breaking National news
For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen.
The survey found that people in the 18-to-24 and 24-to-34-year-old categories were more likely to report improved feelings of well-being, even if their overall happiness score remained below the national average.
In contrast, people in the 35-to-44 and 45-to-54 age brackets were more likely to report their happiness had deteriorated.
“There is a sense of well-being emerging among younger age groups,” the summary read. “However, this also highlights the importance of supporting adults in mid-life, who are more vulnerable to the pressures of working life.”
Quebec, New Brunswick and Newfoundland and Labrador were the three provinces with happiness levels above the national average of 68.7. They were followed, in descending order, by Saskatchewan, Nova Scotia, Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, Manitoba and P.E.I. The territories were not included in the survey.
In the survey of the 10 largest cities, Mississauga and Montreal finished ahead of Hamilton, Calgary, Brampton, Ottawa, Edmonton, Vancouver, Winnipeg and Toronto, in that order.
Women reported slightly higher happiness levels than men, at 69.4 versus 68.0.
Leger says the overall results confirm “a level of happiness that is relatively high but stagnant or even slightly down compared to the pre-pandemic period.”
To get the results, Leger surveyed 39,841 Canadians aged 18 and up between March 31 and April 13.
Online surveys cannot be assigned a margin of error because they do not randomly sample the population.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
Ontario Provincial Police are set to host a town hall in Quadeville, Ont., this evening to answer questions from residents about an attack on an eight-year-old child that was initially linked to an animal.
Police have arrested a 17-year-old boy in the case and he faces charges of attempted murder and sexual assault with a weapon.
Members of the small community 170 kilometres west of Ottawa say they were in shock after hearing about the arrest and hope to get clarity at today’s event in the town’s community centre.
Local resident Christine Hudder says she wants to know how police came up with the animal attack theory and why families were told for days to keep their children indoors.
Get breaking National news
For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen.
The victim was found with life-threatening injuries on June 24 after she was reported missing, and remains in hospital.
Police say they are planning to give as much information as possible to locals given that an investigation is still underway.
A Burlington, Ont., mother was unsettled to discover that an old photo of her children had been used in a fraudulent GoFundMe that attempted to elicit donations in connection the recent Texas floods.
Julie Cole told Global News that a friend had contacted her on social media to say that an old photo of her six children was being used in an attempt to collect ill-gotten gains.
“She reached out to me and she was like, ‘Hey, here’s a link to a GoFundMe. Sorry this has happened to you, but obviously a picture of your kids has been used without your consent and it’s being used for a GoFundMe to raise money, to help a family dealing with the Texas floods,’” she said.
Cole explained that the fake GoFundMe, which has since been removed by the company, was looking for donations to support a widowed mother of six kids in connection.
At least 120 people have died while more than 100 others remain unaccounted for as a result of the flooding, including 27 children and councilors from Camp Mystic.
“They were trying to raise $40,000 because of the three daughters had been victims of the Texas floods,” Cole said. “And the way it was presented felt very much like they were part of maybe that girl’s camp.”
Julie Cole told Global News that a friend had contacted her on social media to make that an old photo of her six children was being used in an attempt to collect ill-gotten gains.
Provided
Cole said once the listing was sent to her, she immediately contacted GoFundMe to get the fundraiser taken down.
Get breaking National news
For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen.
By Wednesday morning, the company had done so and in a statement to Global News, GoFundMe said that the fundraiser did not receive any donations and the account has been banned from creating any further fundraisers on the platform.
“GoFundMe has the most robust donor protection processes of any platform of our kind. We have round the clock trust and safety support, humans and technology making sure funds will get to where they are intended,” the statement offered.
After contacting the company, Cole said she shared the incident on her social media pages to raise awareness.
“So I did put it on my Facebook and I put it in my LinkedIn as like a heads-up learning experience kind of thing and there was a lot of outrage,” she said.
Cole also noted that while she is disappointed by the incident, she is well aware that her troubles are miniscule in comparison to those affected by the flooding.
“I do feel a little bit in myself that what I’m feeling is in no way comparable to what the actual families are feeling who have gone through the tragedies of the flooding,” she said.
The photo came from an old blog post she had written 16 years ago. Cole can date the picture as the baby in the photo is now getting ready to go for his driver’s test.
“I’m one of those, like, OG mommy bloggers from 20 years ago. So my kids have been on the internet. They have been sort of in the public eye,” she explained.
“And I know the risk is out there. And I think parents need to remember that, that their kids’ photos can be just screenshotted and used without consent. So there’s one lesson.
“I felt a little, well, very unsettled about it, particularly because of what it was being used for.”
In addition to being a parenting blogger, she also helped found Mabel’s Labels, which offers washable labels for kids clothing and other school items, in an effort to keep them out of the lost and found.
Julie Cole and her six kids in 2025.
Provided
Being a spokesperson for the company while raising six kids keeps her in the parenting sphere and she offered some other advice to parents about the images and social media.
“I think parents just have to be mindful and aware that once it’s out there, you know you’d like to think you’ll get consent or you’ll give consent if somebody asks or they want to use it, but people will just take it and they can just take,” she said.
“You have to be especially careful now with AI, because these photos can be altered.”
She also warned parents to check with their kids as they get older to see if they are OK with pics being posted and that people should be mindful of where they are sharing their donations.
“Another lesson out of this is people need to really be cautious and know where they’re putting their fundraising dollars,” Cole said.
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
-
Uncategorized1 month agoShop Proud, Eat Proud, Be Proud — Ottawa Canada Day Market This June 28th
-
4 weeks agoCanada’s world junior trial saw juries tossed, intense testimony. Here’s a recap
-
4 weeks agoMeasles circulating in northeastern B.C. community, health officials warn
-
4 weeks agoAnishinabek Nation chief says he briefed Ontario police on protests against Bill 5
-
4 weeks agoRing of Fire road to bring prosperity to First Nation, problems for caribou: report
-
4 weeks agoJagmeet Singh apologizes for attending Kendrick Lamar concert after Drake calls him out
-
4 weeks agoDreaming of a lakeside cottage but can’t afford it? Co-ownership could open that door
-
4 weeks agoFormer major leaguer, Jays doctor Ron Taylor dies