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There’s good news for travelers this summer as delays at Canada’s busiest airports have seen a huge increase.
There was a sharp increase in service delivery at Canada’s four largest airports between May and August this year, NAV Canada said in a statement on Monday.
Canada’s NAC, the agency responsible for air traffic control in the country, reported data from Toronto Pearson, Montréal-Trudeau, Calgary and Vancouver International Airports.
The number of scheduled flights impacted by delays fell 85 per cent from May 1 to Aug. 31, 2026, compared to the same period in 2025, NAV Canada said.
The period coincided with the FIFA World Cup in July which saw visitors from around the world arrive in Canada amid record-low airport delays, the agency said.
During the 2025 period, 4,996 flights, or 1.54 percent of all flights at these airports, experienced delays. This year, that number dropped to 769 flights, or 0.24 per cent of all scheduled flights, NAV Canada said.
This happens when flight volumes at four major airports increase this summer. They collectively handled 394,919 flights this summer, up 0.9 percent compared to the same period in 2025.
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Each of the four major airports saw increases, with Vancouver recording the sharpest increases. By the summer of 2025, 4.42 percent of all flights from Vancouver will experience delays. This year, that figure fell to 0.64 percent.
Toronto Pearson was the best performing airport in terms of number of delayed flights, with only 0.04 per cent of flights affected by delays, down from 0.24 per cent in 2025.
Followed by Calgary at 0.05 percent, down from 1.16 percent, and Montreal-Trudeau at 0.28 percent, down from 1.16 percent.
Canadian airports are still short-staffed with air traffic controllers, but the staffing gap narrowed between May and August. In the spring, Canada was short 200 air traffic control staff. In August, this number fell to 170, NAV Canada said.
Earlier this month, Premier Mark Carney said the federal government was moving ahead with plans to attract private investment at Canada’s four largest airports.
The new model will be based on “best practices in other countries” and the federal government will retain ownership of the land and underlying assets, Carney said.
Earlier this month, Premier Mark Carney said the federal government was moving ahead with plans to attract private investment at Canada’s four largest airports.
The new model will be based on “best practices in other countries” and the federal government will retain ownership of the land and underlying assets, Carney said.
By 2020, nearly 20 percent of the world’s airports had been privatized. A study in 2022 at the US-based non-profit National Bureau of Economic Research compared the performance of 2,444 airports worldwide in 217 countries.
The report found that the number of passengers per flight – a key metric in assessing airport efficiency – increased by 20 percent when private equity funds bought government-owned airports and overall passenger traffic increased by 84 percent.
The report found that airports also get bigger with private equity funds as owners, with private owners adding new terminals and gates. The study also found fewer flight cancellations.
However, flights may become more expensive as fees charged by airports to airlines are likely to increase after airports are privatized, the report added. The increase in the number of privately owned airports has also been associated with a push for deregulation and resistance to government control, such as cost restrictions.
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
