Where to Winter: Expedia Reveals Sun, Slopes, and Songstresses Driving Canadian Travel Habits This Winter

Canmore showing 104 per cent increase for American visitors

Tuesday least busy day to fly this holiday season

Three Japanese cities among top trending destinations for Canadian travellers

Winter is here and travellers around the globe are packing their bags and planning for their next adventure. Not only are Canadians seeking out top destinations domestically and internationally, but Americans are eager to plan a visit to the great white north to experience the best the country has to offer. Expedia’s winter travel outlook highlights this year’s winter trends as well as best ways to save and when to book.

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(Graphic: Expedia)

Global travellers flock to Canada:

• Americans exploring the great white north¹: Many Canadian destinations have seen a search increase among American travellers this winter season. Vancouver, which is set to host the final leg of the Era’s tour, has seen a 113 per cent surge in searches from a U.S. origin. Other notable destinations on American radar include Québec City (65 per cent), Banff (60 per cent), Montreal (34 per cent), and Canmore (104 per cent), which was recently named as one of Expedia’s Detour Destinations for 2025.

• French culture exchange: Based on flight searches³, travellers from France are eager to visit Montreal with the city ranking seventh in the top ten most searched for destinations during the Christmas holidays. This is a 6 per cent increase compared to the previous year. Toronto has also seen an increase (25 per cent)⁴ on flight searches during the winter holiday season.
• Brits visiting major Canadian cities⁵: In the UK, two Canadian destinations are piquing the interest of travellers with search increases both in Vancouver (45 per cent) and Montreal (70 per cent).

Canadian travel habits:

• Japan Travel Pulse⁶: Travel to Japan is becoming increasingly popular among Canadians with search increases in three major Japanese cities topping the list, including Osaka (95 per cent), Tokyo (90 per cent) and Kyoto (79 per cent). The longer holiday vacation period means more time for travellers to explore far-off destinations.

• Warming up with family and sun⁸: This holiday season Canadians are escaping the cold by warming up with their families as well as under the sun in sun-soaked destinations. The most popular flight searches during this period are for warm locales like Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Delhi, Cancun, and Las Vegas with travellers from Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal leading the charge.

Best and Busiest Times to Travel This Winter⁹

For both domestic and international travel, December 22^nd and 23^rd are the busiest days of the season. Many travellers are flying out to visit their families and getaway for the holiday season.

• Busiest Travel Dates: Week of Dec. 18 is the busiest; December 22^nd and 23^rd (lead-up to Christmas) are the busiest days.
• Lightest Travel Dates: Week of Dec. 4.

Cheapest Day of the Week to Fly⁹

According to Expedia data, Fridays are typically the busiest days at the airport during the winter months, while Tuesdays see the least crowds. To maximize savings, depart on a Sunday instead of Saturday to save around 8 per cent on domestic flights.

Notes to Editor:

Images can be found here.

Data Sources

¹Based on lodging searches with a U.S. origin for travel between Dec 1, 2024 – Mar 9, 2025 compared to Dec 1, 2023 – Mar 10, 2024

²Based on lodging searches with a U.S. origin for travel between Dec 1, 2024 – Mar 9, 2025.

³Based on flight searches with a France origin for travel between Dec 20, 2024 - Jan 6, 2025.

⁴Based on flight searches with a France origin for travel between Feb 7, 2024 – Mar 10, 2025.

⁵Based on flight searches with a UK origin for travel between Dec 1, 2024 – Mar 1, 2025.

⁶Based on lodging searches with a Canada origin for travel between Dec 1, 2024 – Mar 9, 2025 compared to Dec 1, 2023 – Mar 10, 2024

⁷Based on lodging searches with a Canada origin for travel between Dec 1, 2024 – Mar 9, 2025.

⁸Based on lodging searches with a Canada origin for travel between Dec 20, 2024 – Jan 2, 2025.

⁹ Based on Expedia flight demand for travel for December 2023 – March 2024 compared to the same time frame the year prior.

¹⁰How to avoid flight cancellations information is based on January through July 2023 flight status data for flights originating in Canada sourced from OAG’s global flight data platform. Percentages noted are averages.

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