Canada’s busiest airports spent Tuesday digging out from the record-breaking winter storm that swept central and Atlantic Canada over the weekend, and the ripple effects will be felt by business travellers for several more days. Toronto Pearson—Canada’s primary global hub—reported 46 cancellations (about 11 percent of departures) by late morning on January 27, down sharply from the 450+ flights scrubbed on Monday. Crews worked through the night to clear 46 cm of snow, the largest single-day January snowfall since records began in 1937. De-icing backlogs and equipment breakdowns remain the main bottlenecks, meaning travellers must still arrive early and build in longer connection windows.
The storm also battered secondary hubs that feed trans-border and trans-Atlantic routes. Québec City and Halifax each cancelled roughly 10 percent of departures, while St. John’s, NL—still under a blizzard warning—scrapped more than one in five flights. Carriers have waived change fees for affected passengers and are proactively re-routing international connections through Montreal and Calgary to ease pressure on Pearson.
While juggling rebookings, many firms are also wrestling with visa or eTA paperwork for employees rerouted at the last minute. VisaHQ’s streamlined platform (https://www.visahq.com/canada/) can secure Canadian travel authorizations quickly, provide real-time status updates and assign dedicated account managers—helping corporate travellers avoid an additional layer of disruption just as weather delays peak.
![Snowstorm snarls Canadian airports despite gradual recovery in flight schedules]()
For corporate mobility managers the immediate task is re-accommodating stranded travellers while monitoring downstream impacts on crew positioning and aircraft rotations. Data provider FlightAware warns that U.S. airports along the Eastern Seaboard are seeing 35–40 percent cancellation rates, a factor that could snarl Canada-bound itineraries through at least mid-week. Companies with time-sensitive assignments have been advised to authorise premium-fare seats on the first available flights and to keep employees apprised of mandatory electronic Advance CBSA Declarations, which can shave up to 30 seconds off primary inspection at airports already stretched by weather delays.
Longer term, the storm underscores the operational risks of winter travel in Canada’s key commercial corridor. Airports Council International notes that Pearson handled 36.6 million passengers last year and operates near capacity even in good weather. The Greater Toronto Airports Authority is accelerating plans to add remote de-icing pads and expand gate-holding areas, but these projects will not be completed until 2028. Until then, contingency planning—including buffer days for critical project kick-offs—remains essential for global mobility teams.
Travellers heading to Canada this week should monitor carrier apps for rolling re-timings, keep hotel reservations flexible, and travel with proof of essential-business purpose should further weather-related delays trigger duty-of-care escalations. The Canadian Press reports that most routes should normalise by Thursday, provided no secondary storm cells develop.
The storm also battered secondary hubs that feed trans-border and trans-Atlantic routes. Québec City and Halifax each cancelled roughly 10 percent of departures, while St. John’s, NL—still under a blizzard warning—scrapped more than one in five flights. Carriers have waived change fees for affected passengers and are proactively re-routing international connections through Montreal and Calgary to ease pressure on Pearson.
While juggling rebookings, many firms are also wrestling with visa or eTA paperwork for employees rerouted at the last minute. VisaHQ’s streamlined platform (https://www.visahq.com/canada/) can secure Canadian travel authorizations quickly, provide real-time status updates and assign dedicated account managers—helping corporate travellers avoid an additional layer of disruption just as weather delays peak.
For corporate mobility managers the immediate task is re-accommodating stranded travellers while monitoring downstream impacts on crew positioning and aircraft rotations. Data provider FlightAware warns that U.S. airports along the Eastern Seaboard are seeing 35–40 percent cancellation rates, a factor that could snarl Canada-bound itineraries through at least mid-week. Companies with time-sensitive assignments have been advised to authorise premium-fare seats on the first available flights and to keep employees apprised of mandatory electronic Advance CBSA Declarations, which can shave up to 30 seconds off primary inspection at airports already stretched by weather delays.
Longer term, the storm underscores the operational risks of winter travel in Canada’s key commercial corridor. Airports Council International notes that Pearson handled 36.6 million passengers last year and operates near capacity even in good weather. The Greater Toronto Airports Authority is accelerating plans to add remote de-icing pads and expand gate-holding areas, but these projects will not be completed until 2028. Until then, contingency planning—including buffer days for critical project kick-offs—remains essential for global mobility teams.
Travellers heading to Canada this week should monitor carrier apps for rolling re-timings, keep hotel reservations flexible, and travel with proof of essential-business purpose should further weather-related delays trigger duty-of-care escalations. The Canadian Press reports that most routes should normalise by Thursday, provided no secondary storm cells develop.
