Canada's best airports for 2025 were ranked and Toronto Pearson got slammed

If you've flown through an airport like Toronto Pearson, Vancouver or Calgary recently, you probably have opinions about the best — and worst — Canadian airports, and now, there's a national ranking to back them up.

The 2025 edition of J.D. Power's North America Airport Satisfaction Study just dropped, revealing how travellers really feel about Canada's busiest airports.

The study surveyed over 30,000 travellers across the U.S. and Canada, ranking airports on everything from ease of travel to food options and terminal vibes. And when it comes to the best airports in Canada, there was only one clear winner — and it wasn't YYZ.

In fact, Toronto Pearson airport came in dead last among Canadian airports and second last overall in its entire category, beating out only the infamously chaotic Newark.

The report sorts airports into three categories based on traffic: mega, large and medium. Pearson, being a mega airport, scored just 567 points out of a possible 1,000 — well below the segment average of 603. That's a pretty brutal showing, especially considering all the noise about long lines, crowding and delays.

The only airport to score worse? Newark Liberty, which landed at the very bottom with 565 points.

On the flip side, Vancouver International Airport (YVR) came out on top in Canada, racking up 671 points. That makes it the only Canadian airport to score above average in its category — and the only one that actually managed to impress travellers this year.

Calgary (YYC) and Montreal (YUL) both landed in the bottom four of the large airport segment, with scores of 610 and 571, respectively. Ouch.

Edmonton International Airport (YEG) didn't fare any better. In the medium airport category, it scored just 602 — the lowest in its segment.

Ottawa's Macdonald-Cartier Airport (YOW) wasn't far off, coming in with 614 points. Neither came close to the segment average of 656, and neither were anywhere near the top performers like Indianapolis or Buffalo Niagara.

Despite Canada's embarrassing showing, J.D. Power notes an overall rise in airport satisfaction this year, which it says was driven by things like better food, local flavour and recent renovations — but clearly, not every Canadian airport is hitting the mark.

So with the holiday travel season just around the corner, this might be a good time to rethink your connection through Toronto Pearson — or at least pack some extra snacks and patience.

AI tools may have been used to support the creation or distribution of this content; however, it has been carefully edited and fact-checked by a member of Narcity's Editorial team. For more information on our use of AI, please visit our Editorial Standards page.