The last Canadian airlines have left Cuba, Anand says

Some Canadian tourists are choosing to take their cash elsewhere due to Cuba’s energy crisis. Kamil Karamali reports.

Foreign Affairs Minister Anita Anand says the final flights operated by Canadian airlines have left Cuba.

“Thank you to all Canadian airline workers who helped bring more than 27,900 travellers safely back to Canada,” a statement posted Thursday evening on X said. “If you are still in Cuba, some commercial flights remain available through international airlines.”

The Government of Canada has updated travel advice to Cuba to “avoid all non-essential travel” as of Thursday due to worsening fuel, electricity, food, water and medicine shortages going on in the Caribbean country amid a U.S.-imposed oil blockade.

“All Canadian airlines have suspended service to Cuba until further notice,” the travel advice reads.

Earlier this month, Canadians were stuck in Cuba waiting for flights to take them back home as the energy crisis worsened. But major Canadian airlines had suspended service to the country, including Air Canada, WestJet and Air Transat. Air Canada said its decision came “following advisories issued by governments regarding the unreliability of the aviation fuel supply at Cuban airports.”

In a statement to CTVNews.ca earlier this month, a spokesperson for Global Affairs Canada (GAC) said more than 7,000 Canadians were registered as being present in Cuba.

READ MORE: ‘We just want to go home’: Canadians in Cuba wait for answers as airlines adjust flights

GAC added that registration is voluntary and “does not represent the total number” of Canadians in Cuba.

During the same time, Cuban officials warned airlines that there wasn’t enough fuel for airplanes to refuel on the island nation, a commercial pilot said.

The United States has had a decades-long trade embargo on Cuba. U.S. President Donald Trump recently threatened tariffs on any country that sells or gives oil to Cuba, but the island nation has insisted it is "not a threat to the United States," according to Col. Juan Carlos Poey, head of the anti-narcotics department at the Interior Ministry.

Trump has accused Cuba of enabling drug trafficking through its support of Venezuela. The U.S. captured Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro in early January.

Prime Minister Mark Carney has faced calls to speak up against the U.S. or send aid to Cuba. Global Affairs Canada has been warning travellers about the lack of basic necessities in the country for more than a year.

It is unclear how long the restrictions on travel to Cuba will remain in place for Canadians.

With files from CTVNews.ca staff, AFP and The Canadian Press