A massive winter system sweeping across the United States has begun to disrupt Canadian travel corridors, prompting Air Canada and WestJet to activate fee-waiver policies on 23 January 2026. FlightAware data show more than 400 cancellations on Friday and 1,300 already scrubbed for Saturday, with Dallas–Fort Worth International alone accounting for 900 grounded services.
Air Canada’s waiver covers flights between 23 and 26 January for eight U.S. cities—including New York, Philadelphia and Washington—allowing passengers to change itineraries without penalties or fare differences. WestJet is offering similar flexibility for Atlanta and Houston. Both carriers recommend re-booking to dates outside the storm window to avoid rolling delays as aircraft and crews reposition.
When weather chaos forces last-minute changes, keeping travel documents in sync is just as important as rebooking flights. VisaHQ’s Canada portal (https://www.visahq.com/canada/) can fast-track visa applications, shift consular appointments, and provide status alerts, giving both individual travellers and corporate mobility teams a single point of support while plans remain in flux.
![Winter Storm snarls cross-border travel; Air Canada and WestJet issue flexible re-booking for U.S. routes]()
For corporate mobility teams, the storm arrives at a critical juncture—the first full business week after the holiday lull. Companies with project teams shuttling between Toronto, Montréal and American tech hubs are activating contingency plans: shifting meetings online, routing essential personnel through unaffected gateways such as Detroit or Buffalo, or delaying site visits altogether.
Canadian airports remain open, but experts caution that knock-on effects—crew-duty limitations, aircraft imbalance and de-icing queues—could ripple into mid-week even after skies clear. Travellers heading to immigration interviews or biometric appointments in the United States are urged to monitor appointment-rescheduling options to avoid forfeiting fees.
The episode underscores the value of robust travel-risk management. Mobility managers are advised to keep employee tracking up-to-date, remind travellers of permissible expense limits for weather delays, and verify that any re-issued tickets retain immigration-compliant fare bases.
Air Canada’s waiver covers flights between 23 and 26 January for eight U.S. cities—including New York, Philadelphia and Washington—allowing passengers to change itineraries without penalties or fare differences. WestJet is offering similar flexibility for Atlanta and Houston. Both carriers recommend re-booking to dates outside the storm window to avoid rolling delays as aircraft and crews reposition.
When weather chaos forces last-minute changes, keeping travel documents in sync is just as important as rebooking flights. VisaHQ’s Canada portal (https://www.visahq.com/canada/) can fast-track visa applications, shift consular appointments, and provide status alerts, giving both individual travellers and corporate mobility teams a single point of support while plans remain in flux.
For corporate mobility teams, the storm arrives at a critical juncture—the first full business week after the holiday lull. Companies with project teams shuttling between Toronto, Montréal and American tech hubs are activating contingency plans: shifting meetings online, routing essential personnel through unaffected gateways such as Detroit or Buffalo, or delaying site visits altogether.
Canadian airports remain open, but experts caution that knock-on effects—crew-duty limitations, aircraft imbalance and de-icing queues—could ripple into mid-week even after skies clear. Travellers heading to immigration interviews or biometric appointments in the United States are urged to monitor appointment-rescheduling options to avoid forfeiting fees.
The episode underscores the value of robust travel-risk management. Mobility managers are advised to keep employee tracking up-to-date, remind travellers of permissible expense limits for weather delays, and verify that any re-issued tickets retain immigration-compliant fare bases.
