More than 47 million travellers passed through Toronto Pearson Airport in 2025

Toronto Pearson Airport in Mississauga is often described as both Canada’s biggest and busiest airport.

Neither of those facts is about to change anytime soon, the numbers show.

Situated on roughly 4,600 acres of property right on the Mississauga-Toronto border, Toronto Pearson Airport welcomed 47.3 million travellers to its terminals in 2025, a recent report from the Greater Toronto Airports Authority shows. The GTAA operates Pearson.

The number of passengers who made their way through the airport last year is up from 46.8 million in 2024 (1.1 per cent increase), a showing of “modest growth,” Pearson officials said, and 44.8 million in 2023.

Of the 47.3 million travellers last year, 30.1 million were travelling internationally while the remaining 17.2 million took flights within Canada’s borders, the report shows. Those numbers were about the same compared to 2024 (see chart below).

The second-busiest airport in Canada last year was again Vancouver International Airport, which handled 26.9 million passengers, according to figures from that airport. Its mark in 2024 was 26.2 million and 24.9 million in 2023.

Montreal-Trudeau International Airport was third, again, with roughly 22.4 million people arriving at and departing from that hub in 2025, nearly the same as the previous year. Some 21.2 million travellers used the Montreal airport in 2023.

(Source: Greater Toronto Airports Authority)

The GTAA’s report noted that “growth in the domestic sector (2024 to 2025) was partially offset by a marginal decrease in the international sector. Passenger traffic in 2025 was primarily impacted by the global economic and political landscape and timing of aircraft delivery due to supply chain issues in the industry.”

To a lesser degree, the report continued, “extreme weather events, a single aircraft incident and an air carrier labour disruption contributed to final passenger volume.”

Furthermore, the GTAA noted, “2024 was also a leap year, resulting in an extra day’s operations.”

Toronto Pearson Airport President and CEO Deborah Flint said in a news release earlier this year that Canada’s largest airport — also considered a key North American hub — remains globally competitive.

Pearson remains competitive, officials say

“Despite global shifts in travel and trade, Toronto Pearson grew passenger volume overall, reflecting our competitive position and agility that enabled airlines to redistribute their routes and networks in response to a changing landscape,” she said, adding 2026 “will entail more visible outcomes from the years of foundation setting of our strategy, including LIFT.

“We are building for the future where global connectivity is even more critical for prosperity in Canada.”

LIFT, or Pearson’s Long-term Investment in Facilities and Terminals plan, is a blueprint that spans more than 10 years and invests billions of dollars into the airport “through several construction programs aimed at preparing Canada’s largest airport for the challenges and opportunities of the coming years and beyond,” GTAA officials said earlier.

Airport officials also noted in their early 2026 report that Pearson continues “to monitor the global economic and political landscape closely, assessing risks and ready to adapt as ongoing tariff pressures create economic uncertainty.”

In May, airport officials said 11.1 million travellers passed through Pearson in the first three months of 2026, a 4.2 per cent increase over the same period in 2025.

Post-COVID 19 increase at Toronto Pearson 

Earlier numbers show that from 2022 to 2023, passenger traffic at Pearson Airport increased significantly, rising from 35.6 million to 44.8 million as people continued to fly in greater numbers once again following the COVID-19 pandemic and related flight restrictions.

In 2019, the year prior to the pandemic, 50.5 million travellers used Pearson Airport. That number dropped dramatically to 13.3 million in 2020 and 12.7 million in 2021 before rebounding in the years since.

(Cover photo: Toronto Pearson Airport X)