Air travel recovery ramps up after snow blast, thousands still face cancellations

A man looks across a section of Toronto's Pearson Airport as snow piles up around the area during heavy snowfall on Monday, Jan. 26, 2026. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Chris Young

Air travel picked back up in earnest today as crews cleared the remnants of a record-breaking snowstorm in Central Canada from the tarmacs.

Aviation analytics firm Cirium says Toronto’s Pearson airport notched 46 flight cancellations, or about 11 per cent, as of 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, compared with 10 times that number on Monday.

Environment Canada says the airport received an unprecedented 46 centimetres of snow on Sunday, making January Toronto’s snowiest month since records began in 1937.

Quebec City and Halifax both saw 10 per cent of departures cancelled Tuesday, while St. John’s, N.L., topped 22 per cent as snow continued to blast the island this morning.

Canadians travelling to or from Dallas, Boston, New York City or Washington, D.C., face greater odds of disruption, with 35 to 40 per cent of departures out of some airports in those cities called off or delayed, according to plane tracking firm FlightAware.

Crews across eastern North America continue to de-ice planes and clear drifting snow from runways due to gusting winds, leading to minor delays.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 27, 2026.

The Canadian Press