WestJet says a “notable” decline in transborder travel has led to the suspension of 16 routes between Canadian and U.S. cities for the summer 2026 season.
The airline confirmed the decision to Global News on Tuesday.
“We saw a notable decline in transborder travel demand throughout 2025,” said Julia Kaiser, media relations advisor for WestJet. “As a result, we made timely decisions to modify our network to stay aligned with where Canadians want to go.
Kaiser said in an email that the airline was reducing its full-year transborder flying by close to 10 per cent, with a 15 per cent reduction in what were “historically peak” U.S. travel times.
The suspension of service this summer will occur on these 16 routes:
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“We see no indication that this trend will change in the foreseeable future and have made further reductions to our transborder network for summer 2026,” Kaiser added.
The shift by WestJet comes as travel between Canada and the U.S. continues to decline.
Statistics Canada data last month showed that Canadians continued to take fewer trips to the U.S. in November 2025 amid the ongoing trade war and declining dollar.
Canadian resident return trips to the U.S. fell by 23.6 per cent on average compared with November 2024.
Travel expert Claire Newell told Global News we may not have “hit the bottom” yet in terms of that decline.
“The amount of people going to the U.S. just continually comes down and down and it’s not just the political climate,” Newell said. “People have safety concerns, people don’t want to cross the border. It’s also the dollar. I mean, the reality is our Canadian dollar doesn’t go very far in the U.S.”
Edmonton International Airport, where five of the U.S.-bound routes are being suspended, said in a statement that it’s seeing a change among travellers.
“While we are seeing fewer passengers choose to travel to the United States this year, overall demand at YEG remains strong,” said Justin Draper, senior communications advisor for the airport. “Domestic travel continues to grow, and we’re seeing travellers shift towards international sun destinations in the winter season.”
WestJet said demand for domestic, Latin American, Caribbean, transatlantic and transpacific destinations “remains strong.”
“As such, WestJet has redeployed its fleet by increasing capacity on routes Canadians want to fly,” Kaiser said.
On Monday, the airline announced it was expanding domestic service during the summer with non-stop service from Calgary and Edmonton airports to Ontario and B.C. locations.
Flights will be flying daily between Calgary and Campbell River, B.C., starting May 15, with Edmonton to Terrace, B.C., flights starting twice weekly on May 19.
WestJet will also be flying from Calgary to Sault Ste. Marie and North Bay, Ont., twice weekly starting on June 12 and June 19, respectively.
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
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