Flying from Toronto: what you need to know
Pearson International is Canada's busiest airport and Air Canada's home base. That gives Toronto the widest international network in the country — nonstops to Europe, Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean. WestJet adds domestic and sun-destination competition that keeps Air Canada's pricing in check.
Transatlantic routes from YYZ are strong. Air Canada, Air Transat, WestJet, British Airways, and Icelandair all compete. Air Transat is the budget pick — their seasonal service to London, Paris, and southern Europe starts surprisingly low. Air Canada frequently runs seat sales to London, Dublin, and Lisbon in January.
The Caribbean is Toronto's leisure powerhouse. Directly served islands include Jamaica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Barbados, Trinidad, Aruba, and Curaçao. Sunwing and Air Transat run charter-style operations that undercut scheduled carriers on all-inclusive routes.
For U.S. domestic connections, Toronto has an odd advantage: pre-clearance at YYZ means you clear U.S. customs before boarding, arriving as a domestic passenger. This makes YYZ-JFK, YYZ-LAX, and YYZ-SFO genuinely competitive against connecting through Montreal.
The Canadian dollar exchange rate is the hidden variable. When CAD is weak against USD, Canadian-origin fares look expensive in dollar terms. But when CAD strengthens, Toronto becomes one of the cheapest departure points in North America for international travel.
Cheapest windows: January through March for Caribbean and Europe. September-October for broad international deals.