Canada Day travel: Canadians staying local for the long weekend amid Canada-U.S. tensions
But aside from destinations Canadians need to fly to, Canadian road trips are on people's minds. Kayak found that 55 per cent of rental car searches are now domestic, compared to international car rental searches that were more popular last year (International car rentals make up 52 per cent of searches in 2024, according to Kayak).
Leading up to the weekend, leaving a little bit earlier for your vacation can be beneficial for saving on flights, with average domestic airfare being the lowest on June 25.
When you are flying, flights that take off between 5:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m. have a 15 to 18 per cent chance of being delayed, versus 42 per cent for evening flights, according to Kayak.
If you're looking to rent a car, Kayak has found that Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary are the cheapest pickup location options in Canada
According to Kayak, Winnipeg has seen a 48 per cent increase in search interest on the site, compared to Canada Day interest in 2024.
The city's exchange district is a great place to walk, and head into local restaurants and shops. There are also a number of different walking tours for the area. Another option is The Forks, a great place to bike, visit museums, do some shopping or have a drink at The Common.
For museum lovers, the Canadian Museum for Human Rights is a great option, with powerful storytelling from exhibits including one on Canada's LGBTQ+ history, and another on Indigenous women in Canada.
If relaxation is more your speed, Thermea Spa Village Winnipeg is where you want to go, which also has a number of interesting "Village Rituals," along with other massage and body care options.
And don't forget about Assiniboine Park Zoo, with more than 80 acres to explore.
Kayak found that there has been a 28 per cent increase in search interest for Canada Day weekend trips to Vancouver, compared to last year.
The British Columbia destination is the perfect place to get a mix of city experiences, while being close to great moments out in nature.
Head to the Capilano Suspension Bridge Park in North Vancouver for a unique adventure, from walking on the suspension bridge or experiencing the cliff walk, to taking in the Living Forest exhibit. There are activities for the whole family.
For shopping lovers, Robson Street is a great stop, along with Yaletown.
Stanley Park is always a must-stop in the city, with several walking trails, including the Seawall, the world's longest uninterrupted waterfront path at 28 kilometres. It's also the home of Canada's largest aquarium, with more than 65,000 animals.
With Kayak seeing a 10 per cent increase in search interest for Canada Day travel to this Quebec city, Montreal never disappoints.
Often compared to a European city, Montreal's unique style is a Canadian delight.
Boasting some of the best food in the country, each neighbourhood has its own set of culinary delights. But a must is always Montreal-style bagels, a sweeter and chewier version than what you get in other places. St-Viateur and Fairmount Bagel are popular choices. Food lovers can also make a stop at the Atwater market, located in a beautiful art deco building.
To get a great view of the city, walk up to the viewpoint at Mount Royal Park, or to get that more European vibe, wander the streets of Old Montreal.
A notable attraction is Olympic Stadium from the 1976 summer games, a captivating piece of architecture, also located by the Montreal Biodome and Botanical Garden.
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Yahoo
42 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Weary travellers at YYC despite fed intervention in Air Canada labour fight
It was a subdued Saturday morning by the Air Canada counters at the Calgary International Airport. Travellers stood wearily in lines by the counter, baggage in tow while staff ran back-and-forth between the counters with passports in hand. Some had been at the airport for hours, waiting to hear back on cancelled flights and rebooking alternatives. 'We've been here since seven this morning,' Clem Lacoume said. She had travelled to Canada from France with a friend, Emma Sambras, two weeks ago to explore British Columbia and had a flight scheduled home on Saturday. At 12:58 a.m. ET on Saturday, 10,000 Air Canada flight attendants walked off the job on strike, after the airline and the union representing them failed to reach a deal ahead of the deadline. The airline estimated 130,000 customers would be affected for each day of the strike. Patty Hajdu, the federal jobs minister, directed the Canada Industrial Relations Board on Saturday morning to order flight attendants back to work, impose final and binding arbitration and extend the terms of the parties' existing contract until a new one one is determined. However, with several flights already cancelled and travellers urgently attempting to rebook alternatives, it will still take time until flights are back to scheduled routine, according to Adam Danyleko, CEO of Elite Travel Management, a Calgary-based travel agency. 'It takes a while for the routes to get back online,' he said. 'They've already cancelled them so they've got to do a lot of work with the actual individual airport locations to bring the routes back online and to bring the flight attendants back online.' On Saturday morning, more than 100 flight attendants banded at the far end of the airport building, near the departure doors leading to the counters for the U.S. airlines. 'Our members are ready for this,' Brittany Thomas, local vice-president for CUPE Local 495 in Calgary. 'They didn't want it to get to this but they are here because they have to be here. 'There's a lot of community,' she added. 'We have a very strong engagement because we know each other, we're friends, we're tight-knit.' The days leading up to the strike held a lot of 'anxiety and stress,' she said. The last time the airline's flight attendants went on strike was in 1985. Daylen Mitansky, local vice-president of CUPE Local 495, said when he heard the strike was to be official, he cried. 'It's really heartbreaking,' he said. 'We're all sad about the passengers being stranded and it's really hard on a lot of us. 'We never thought it would get like this. We never thought we would be walking the line.' Employees feel a combination of 'hurt and confusion' towards a company which expressed intentions to lock them out 30 minutes after the strike went into effect on Saturday morning. 'And also just disgruntled because of the lies that they've been saying of our union at the bargaining table,' Mitansky said. 'They're not ignoring the company. They want this dealt with.' Key issues at the negotiating table include wages and unpaid work. The airline said it offered a 38 per cent increase in total compensation over four years with a 25 per cent raise in the first year. However, the union rejected the offer, describing it as below inflation, below market value and below minimum wage, and would still leave flight attendants unpaid for hours of work when the plane isn't moving. According to Thomas, the starting wage at the company is $1,952 per month. 'They have had record profits,' she said. 'There is no reason why they cannot make a change.' Karen Smith, who owns Boulevard Travel, said her agents had been working overtime in the days leading up to the strike to rebook clients. 'They are totally exhausted,' she said. 'And we don't get reimbursed for our time.' The challenges have been finding seats on airlines to rebook clients and then, having to do so at significantly higher prices. 'I had a team of under-18 years travelling home,' she said. 'They paid $500 for a flight home and they're young kids, they have to get home. 'We've had to charter a flight, which we don't make a penny on, because we don't want to make money on people paying for this. They're now paying $2,200 to get home.' 'It is such a bad scenario,' she said. Danyleko said his team has faced challenges with rebooking for business clients who rely on last-minute flights to be able to travel. 'Last-minute travel is already incredibly expensive,' he said. 'And now the options aren't available.' It adds more fluctuation to an already volatile oligopoly in Canada, wherein labour disruptions in either WestJet, Air Canada or Porter — the three reigning airlines in Canada's domestic industry — can leave the economy shaken. 'There are just so many impacts, whether it be weather, strikes or other factors,' Danyleko said. And it can 'make people more hesitant to travel,' Smith said, 'when you don't know what these airlines are going to do.' 'We got people going on non-refundable cruises and they're not going to get there. If you're over in Barcelona and you want to come home and there's nothing available for four days, you're going to pay triple the price you already paid for, plus multiple nights accommodation, plus missing work if you're still working,' Smith said. 'It's a disaster.' At 11 a.m. on Saturday, Emma and Josef Gorospe sat by an Air Canada counter with a friend whom they were visiting in Calgary. The night before, they had received boarding passes for their Saturday flight, leading them to believe their flight was scheduled and confirmed to go. However, the morning they arrived to the airport, they received news their flight was cancelled. 'It's frustrating,' Emma Grosope said. Their only option was to apply for an ESTA visa and use the visa to book a connecting flight back to the U.K. via the U.S. An Air Canada staff member had been assisting them, Grosope said, but they remained uncertain on their next steps. Missing their flight also means missing on commitments scheduled back home — a medication refill, doctor's appointments and others. Kate Peters and Fabien Naneix said they were prepared when they received the news about their flight on Friday. 'We got ourselves organized,' Naneix said, by extending their stay at the airport hotel and calling up their respective workplaces to let them know about the delay. 'We can work from home so we are quite flexible,' Peters said. They were able to get another flight rebooked for Tuesday, but that means more costs incurred on a longer hotel stay. 'We have travel insurance,' Peters added. Lacoume and Sambras, waiting in line, were tired. It had been hours of waiting to be rebooked on a new flight with a staff member attempting to find seats available on already booked airlines. 'I told my friend I think I lost 10 years of my life in the stress over the past two days,' she said. She added she was supposed to land in Paris by Sunday and board a train hours later to meet her parents and family in the south of France. 'It doesn't just impact us, but also our families and friends,' she said. 'We feel useless and just very powerless,' Sambras said. Related Air Canada strike disrupting travel plans Federal government orders Air Canada flight attendants back to work, imposes binding arbitration By the end of the fifth hour spent waiting in the airport, the two were finally booked on flights on Monday. Their new schedules would see them connect through Reykjavik and land in Paris by Tuesday. 'At least it's something,' Lacoume said. 'We now have a way to go home.' ddesai@
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Hundreds of flights grounded as Air Canada staff strike
Air Canada has suspended all its flights as a strike by cabin staff begins - a move the airline said will disrupt travel plans for around 130,000 passengers a day. The union representing more than 10,000 Air Canada flight attendants confirmed the start of industrial action early on Saturday morning. The airline said it had suspended all flights, including those under its budget arm Air Canada Rouge, and advised affected customers not to travel to the airport unless flying with a different airline. Air Canada's flight attendants are calling for higher salaries and to be paid for work when aircraft are on the ground. The strike took effect at 00:58 ET (04:58 GMT) on Saturday, though Air Canada began scaling back its operations before then. The airline says around 500 flights will be affected per day. Flight attendants will picket at major Canadian airports, where passengers were already trying to secure new bookings earlier in the week. Air Canada, which flies directly to 180 cities worldwide, said it had "suspended all operations" and that it was "strongly advising affected customers not to go to the airport". It added that Air Canada Jazz, PAL Airlines and Air Canada Express flights were unaffected by the strike. "Air Canada deeply regrets the effect the strike is having on customers," it said. By Friday night, the airline said it had cancelled 623 flights affecting more than 100,000 passengers, as part of a winding down of operations ahead of the strike. In contract negotiations, the airline said it had offered flight attendants a 38% increase in total compensation over four years, with a 25% raise in the first year. CUPE said the offer was "below inflation, below market value, below minimum wage" and would still leave flight attendants unpaid for some hours of work, including boarding and waiting at airports ahead of flights. The union and the airline have publicly traded barbs about each other's willingness to reach an agreement. Earlier this month, 99.7% of employees represented by the union voted for a strike. Canadian jobs minister Patty Hajdu this week urged Air Canada and the union to return to the bargaining table to avoid a strike. She also said in a statement that Air Canada had asked her to refer the dispute to binding arbitration. CUPE has asserted that it had been negotiating in good faith for more than eight months, but that Air Canada instead sought government-directed arbitration. "When we stood strong together, Air Canada didn't come to the table in good faith," the union said in a statement to its members. "Instead, they called on the federal government to step in and take those rights away." Air Canada begins cancelling flights ahead of potential strike
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Air Canada strike leads to canceled flights around L.A.
A strike by thousands of Air Canada flight attendants caused travel chaos and hundreds of flight cancellations across the country on Saturday, including 24 at Los Angeles International Airport and two at John Wayne Airport. The Canadian government quickly stepped in Saturday morning, shutting down the strike by imposing binding arbitration and forcing the flight attendants back to work. "It has now become clear that this dispute won't be resolved at the table," Canada's labor minister Patty Hajdu said in a statement, adding that the government must act to preserve stability and supply chains. The strike started about 10 p.m. Friday and was brought by the Canada Union of Public Employees, which represents roughly 10,000 flight attendants at Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge. The dispute was tied to contract negotiations over unpaid work and low wages, according to a statement from the union. Air Canada operates around 700 flights per day and started winding down operations two days ago in anticipation of the planned strike, at the time estimating it would affect about 130,000 customers. The airline said it would notify customers on canceled flights of their options, saying it deeply regrets the effect of the labor dispute. An independent industrial relations board will review the dispute over the next two days. According to Hajdu, it could take Air Canada five to 10 days to ramp back up to regular services. Canada is no stranger to air travel strikes. Last year, pilots for WestJet Airlines, the country's second-largest airline behind Air Canada, threatened to strike over a new contract. The same year, a plane mechanics union went on strike over wages, leading to hundreds of WestJet flight cancellations. Air travel strikes have popped up in the U.S. as well. Around 500 Spirit Airlines pilots went on strike for five days in 2010, leading to hundreds of flight cancellations. In 2023, LAX workers voted to authorize a strike over stalls in contract negotiations. Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
