travel restrictions canada

Toronto tops list of Canadian cities people want to travel to right now

Canada and other countries around the world are starting to relax border restrictions and that means people are thinking about travel again.

Canada just removed some travel restrictions such as the need for an expensive PCR test and that might have some hopeful about returning to the city for a visit.

Toronto’s tourism industry lost billions during lockdowns. The city once welcomed more than 27.5 million visitors annually.

To those looking for a rebound, there might be some good news on the horizon.

People searching for Canada travel and Toronto on the travel app, KAYAK, spiked significantly, the company said in a press release.

Travel searches to Canada were up 57 per cent between Feb. 15 and Feb. 22 for travel anytime in the future compared to the month prior.

There were significant surges to Canadian cities, with the greatest increases seen from travellers in Washington (204 per cent), Munich (43 per cent), San Diego (42 per cent), Amsterdam (41 per cent) and Hamburg (40 per cent).

"The search increases we're seeing indicates pent up demand for Canadian tourism and illustrate the impact entry restrictions have on inbound travel," said Matt Clarke, VP of Marketing at KAYAK NA.

"We've consistently seen that as travel restrictions ease, travel demand follows and we expect to see this continue through summer."

And it turns out Toronto tops the list of cities people were searching for.

Top destinations in Canada being searched for include:

  1. Toronto
  2. Montreal
  3. Vancouver
  4. Calgary
  5. Quebec City
  6. Edmonton
  7. Ottawa
  8. Halifax
  9. Winnipeg
  10. Victoria

Those would-be travellers may want to avoid looking at Toronto's ideas for a city tourism slogan — these dark suggestions might send people to Calgary or Winnipeg of all places.

Lead photo by

Eugene Aikimov


Latest Videos



Latest Videos


Join the conversation Load comments

Latest in Travel

Passenger denied Lululemon reimbursement after WestJet baggage delay

These 3 Ontario destinations were just crowned among Canada's best 'hidden gems'

New US border rules soon to kick in for Canadians travelling with a dog

Famous Cheltenham Badlands near Toronto about to reopen with one big change this year

Ontario just got a stunning new $45 million lakefront museum

How to spend a weekend in and around Ontario's 'Amazon river'

Customers just ranked Air Canada dismally out of all airlines in North America

More flights now using Toronto airport's weirdest terminal you may not know about