Toronto Pearson International Airport is an

international airport An international airport is an airport with customs and border control facilities enabling passengers to travel between countries. International airports are usually larger than domestic airports, and feature longer runways and have faciliti ...

located in

Mississauga Mississauga is a Canadian city in the province of Ontario. Situated on the north-western shore of Lake Ontario in the Regional Municipality of Peel, it borders Toronto (Etobicoke) to the east, Brampton to the north, Milton to the northwest, ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. It is the main airport serving

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

, its

metropolitan area A metropolitan area or metro is a region consisting of a densely populated urban area, urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories which share Industry (economics), industries, commercial areas, Transport infrastructure, transport network ...

, and the surrounding region known as the

Golden Horseshoe The Golden Horseshoe () is a secondary region of Southern Ontario, Canada, which lies at the western end of Lake Ontario, with outer boundaries stretching south to Lake Erie and north to Lake Scugog, Lake Simcoe and Georgian Bay of Lake Huron. T ...

. Pearson is the largest and busiest airport in Canada, handling 46.8 million passengers in 2024. It is named in honour of

Lester B. Pearson Lester Bowles Pearson (23 April 1897 – 27 December 1972) was a Canadian politician, diplomat, statesman, and scholar who served as the 14th prime minister of Canada from 1963 to 1968. He also served as Leader of the Liberal Party of C ...

(1897–1972), the 14th

Prime Minister of Canada The prime minister of Canada () is the head of government of Canada. Under the Westminster system, the prime minister governs with the Confidence and supply, confidence of a majority of the elected House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons ...

and 1957

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize (Swedish language, Swedish and ) is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the Will and testament, will of Sweden, Swedish industrialist, inventor, and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobe ...

laureate for his humanitarian work in peacekeeping. Pearson International Airport is situated northwest of

Downtown Toronto Downtown Toronto is the main city centre of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located entirely within the district of Old Toronto, it is approximately 16.6 square kilometres in area, bounded by Bloor Street to the northeast and Dupont Street to the nor ...

in the adjacent city of

, with a small portion of the airfield extending into Toronto's western district of

Etobicoke Etobicoke (, ) is an administrative district and former city within Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Comprising the city's west end, Etobicoke is bordered on the south by Lake Ontario, on the east by the Humber River (Ontario), Humber River, on the ...

. It has five

runway In aviation, a runway is an elongated, rectangular surface designed for the landing and takeoff of an aircraft. Runways may be a human-made surface (often asphalt concrete, asphalt, concrete, or a mixture of both) or a natural surface (sod, ...

s and two passenger terminals along with numerous

cargo In transportation, cargo refers to goods transported by land, water or air, while freight refers to its conveyance. In economics, freight refers to goods transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. The term cargo is also used in cas ...

, maintenance, and aerospace production facilities on a site that covers . Toronto Pearson is the primary global hub for

Air Canada Air Canada is the flag carrier and the largest airline of Canada, by size and passengers carried. Air Canada is headquartered in the borough of Saint-Laurent in the city of Montreal. The airline, founded in 1937, provides scheduled and cha ...

. It also serves as a hub for

Porter Airlines Porter Airlines (stylized in Letter case#All lowercase, all lowercase as porter) is a Canadian airline headquartered at Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport in Toronto. It is the third largest airline in Canada, behind Air Canada and WestJet. Owned ...

and

WestJet WestJet Airlines, is a Canadian airline headquartered in Calgary, Alberta. Founded in 1994, it is the second-largest airline in Canada and the eighth-largest airline in North America by frequency. It began operations in 1996 with 220 employee ...

, as a focus city for

Air Transat Air Transat () is a List of airlines of Canada, Canadian airline headquartered in Montreal, Quebec. Founded in 1986, it operates scheduled and charter flights serving 60 destinations in 25 countries. Air Transat is owned and operated by Transa ...

, and a base of operations for Flair Airlines. Pearson is operated by the

Greater Toronto Airports Authority The Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA; ) is a Canadian non-profit organization that operates Toronto Pearson International Airport in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. The airport is Canada's largest, that handled 49.5 million passengers in 20 ...

(GTAA) as part of

Transport Canada Transport Canada () is the Ministry (government department), department within the Government of Canada responsible for developing regulations, Policy, policies and Public services, services of road, rail, marine and air Transport in Canada, tra ...

National Airports System In Canada, the National Airports System (, NAS) is a group of major airports defined in the National Airports Policy published in 1994. It was intended to include all airports with an annual traffic of 200,000 passengers or more, as well as air ...

and is supported by around 50,000 workers. The airport maintains facilities for

United States border preclearance United States border preclearance is a method of prescreening border control operated by the United States Department of Homeland Security to screen individuals seeking entry to the United States in eligible facilities located outside of the U ...

. An extensive network of non-stop

domestic flight A domestic flight is a form of commercial flight within civil aviation where the departure and the arrival take place in the same country. Airports serving domestic flights only are known as domestic airports. Domestic flights are generally c ...

s is operated from Toronto Pearson by several airlines to all major and many secondary cities across all

provinces and territories of Canada Canada has ten provinces and three territories that are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Constitution of Canada, Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North Amer ...

. As of 2025, more than 50 airlines operate non-stop or direct flights from Pearson to more than 180 destinations across all six inhabited

continents A continent is any of several large geographical regions. Continents are generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria. A continent could be a single large landmass, a part of a very large landmass, as in the case of As ...

History

In 1937, the

Government of Canada The Government of Canada (), formally His Majesty's Government (), is the body responsible for the federation, federal administration of Canada. The term ''Government of Canada'' refers specifically to the executive, which includes Minister of t ...

agreed to support the building of two airports in the

area. One site selected was on the

Toronto Islands The Toronto Islands are a chain of 15 small islands in Lake Ontario, south of mainland Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Comprising the only group of islands in the western part of Lake Ontario, the Toronto Islands are located just offshore from the ...

, which is the present-day

Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport is a regional airport located on the Toronto Islands in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is often referred to as Toronto Island Airport and was previously known as ''Port George VI Island Airport'' and ''Toronto C ...

. The other site selected was an area northwest of Toronto near the town of Malton in what was then Toronto Township (which would later become Mississauga to avoid confusion with the nearby city of Toronto), which was originally intended to serve as an alternate to the downtown airport but instead would become its successor due to having a much larger space without being constrained by

Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. The Canada–United Sta ...

and Toronto Inner Harbour. The first scheduled passenger flight at the Malton Airport was a

Trans-Canada Air Lines Trans-Canada Air Lines (also known as TCA in English, and Trans-Canada in French) was a Canadian airline that operated as the country's flag carrier, with corporate headquarters in Montreal, Quebec. Its first president was Gordon Roy McGregor. ...

DC-3 The Douglas DC-3 is a propeller-driven airliner manufactured by the Douglas Aircraft Company, which had a lasting effect on the airline industry in the 1930s to 1940s and World War II. It was developed as a larger, improved 14-bed sleeper ...

that landed on August 29, 1939. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, the

Royal Canadian Air Force The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; ) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environmental commands within the unified Can ...

established a base at the airport as a component of the

British Commonwealth Air Training Plan The British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP), often referred to as simply "The Plan", was a large-scale multinational military aircrew training program created by the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zealand during the Second Wo ...

. ''RCAF Station Malton'' was home to several training schools and was in operation between 1940 and 1946. In 1958, the

municipal government of Toronto The municipal government of Toronto (Municipal corporation, incorporated as the City of Toronto) is the local government responsible for administering the city of Toronto in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. ...

sold the Malton Airport to the Government of Canada, which subsequently renamed the facility to Toronto International Airport, under the management of

. The airport was officially renamed Lester B. Pearson International Airport on January 2, 1984, in honour of Toronto-born

, the 14th prime minister of Canada and recipient of the 1957

. The

(GTAA) assumed management, operation, and control of the airport in 1996, and has used the name Toronto Pearson International Airport for the facility since the transition. Since Toronto has more than one airport, YTO is used for the area designation, while Pearson is coded YYZ, Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport is YTZ and Toronto/ Buttonville Municipal Airport in Markham, until its closure on November 24, 2023, was YKZ. YZ was the code for the station in Malton, Ontario, where Pearson Airport is located and hence the

IATA code IATA codes are abbreviations that the International Air Transport Association (IATA) publishes to facilitate air travel. They are typically 1, 2, 3, or 4 character combinations (referred to as unigrams, digrams, trigrams, or tetragrams, respec ...

for Pearson Airport is YYZ. The

telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas ...

station in Toronto itself was coded TZ, which is why Toronto's smaller Billy Bishop Airport is coded YTZ.

Terminals

Toronto Pearson International Airport has two active public terminals, Terminal 1 and Terminal 3. Both terminals are designed to handle all three sectors of travel (domestic, transborder, and international), which results in terminal operations at Toronto Pearson being grouped for airlines and

airline alliance An airline alliance is an aviation industry arrangement between two or more airlines agreeing to cooperate on a substantial level. Alliances may provide marketing branding to facilitate travelers making inter-airline codeshare agreement, codeshare ...

s, rather than for domestic and international routes. The former Terminal 2 was permanently closed and demolished in 2008 to make way for the expansion of the current Terminal 1.

Terminal 1

Terminal 1 is a facility with 58 gates. It was designed by a joint venture known as Airports Architects Canada made up of

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill SOM, an initialism of its original name Skidmore, Owings & Merrill LLP, is a Chicago-based architectural, urban planning, and engineering firm. It was founded in 1936 by Louis Skidmore and Nathaniel Owings. In 1939, they were joined by engineer ...

LLP, Adamson Associates Architects, and

Moshe Safdie Moshe Safdie (; born July 14, 1938) is an architect, urban planner, educator, theorist, and author. He is well known for incorporating principles of socially responsible design throughout his six-decade career. His projects include cultural, ed ...

and Associates. The terminal opened in 2004, replacing the former ''Aeroquay One'' (also referred to by its retronym: the original ''Terminal 1''). Terminal 1 is used by all

Star Alliance Star Alliance is an airline alliance headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany. Founded on 14 May 1997, it was the world's first global airline alliance. Star Alliance has 25 member airlines that operate a combined fleet of over 5,000 aircraft, servi ...

airlines (of which

is one, and including its subsidiaries),

Oneworld Oneworld (Computer reservations system, CRS: *O, stylised as oneworld) is a global airline alliance consisting of 14 member airlines. It was founded on 1 February 1999. The alliance's stated objective is to be the first choice airline alliance f ...

member

Royal Air Maroc Royal Air Maroc (RAM, ; ; ) is the Morocco, Moroccan national carrier, as well as the country largest airline, ranking among the largest in Africa. RAM is wholly owned by the Cabinet of Morocco, Moroccan Government, and has its headquarters o ...

, and non-alliance airlines

Air North Air North Charter and Training Ltd., operating as , is a Canadian airline based in Whitehorse, Yukon. It operates scheduled passenger and cargo flights throughout Yukon, as well as between Yukon and the Northwest Territories, British Columbia, ...

and

Emirates Emirates may refer to: * United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective ...

. It features three concourses (D, E and F) with Concourse D used for domestic flights, Concourse E used for international flights, and Concourse F used for transborder flights to the United States. Concourse F is a US border preclearance area and is separated airside from the other two Concourses. Two of the gates at Terminal 1 (E73 and E75) are designed to accommodate the

Airbus A380 The Airbus A380 is a very large wide-body airliner, developed and produced by Airbus until 2021. It is the world's largest passenger airliner and the only full-length double-deck jet airliner. Airbus studies started in 1988, and the pr ...

. Along with the standard customs and immigration facilities, Terminal 1 contains special customs "B" checkpoints along the international arrivals walkway. Passengers connecting from an international or trans-border arrival to another international (non-U.S.) departure in Terminal 1 go to one of these checkpoints for passport control and immigration checks, then are immediately directed to Pier E for departure. This alleviates the need to recheck bags, pass through security screening, and relieves congestion in the primary customs hall. International-to-domestic passengers use the same corridor and a bus for one-stop security procedures, which avoids having to re-clear security if coming from another country with a mutual agreement. The terminal has a total of eight lounges, with five of the lounges being Air Canada–operated lounges (three Maple Leaf Lounges, one Maple Leaf Express Lounge and one Signature Suite) and three being Plaza Premium operated. Both Air Canada and Plaza Premium have lounges in the Domestic, International and Transborder zones, with the Signature Suite being in the International Zone. Air Canada also operates the Air Canada Cafe in the Domestic departures zone. An eight-level

parking garage A multistorey car park (Commonwealth English) or parking garage (American English), also called a multistorey, parking building, parking structure, parkade (Canadian), parking ramp, parking deck, or indoor parking, is a building designed fo ...

with 8,400 public parking spaces (including 700 rental car spaces) across from Terminal 1 is connected to the terminal by several elevated and enclosed pedestrian walkways.

Terminal 3

Terminal 3 is a facility with 46 gates, designed by B+H Architects and Scott Associates Architects Inc. It opened in 1991 and was a major hub for Canadian Airlines (defunct since 2001) at that time. Terminal 3 is used by most

airlines with the exception of

which uses Terminal 1 and all

SkyTeam SkyTeam is one of the world's three major airline alliances. Founded in June 2000, SkyTeam was the last of the three alliances to be formed, after Star Alliance and Oneworld. Its annual passenger count is 624 million customers (2024), the second ...

airlines, along with

, Flair Airlines,

, and all other non-alliance airlines at Pearson with the exception of Air North and Emirates which use Terminal 1. Terminal 3 has three concourses (A,B,C). Concourse A is used for transborder flights to the United States and is a

zone and is separated from the other two concourses. Concourses B and C are connected airside, and gates within them may be used interchangeably for domestic and international flights. The terminal has a total of five lounges. Three Plaza Premium lounges are located in each of the concourses, an

Air France Air France (; legally ''Société Air France, S.A.''), stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the flag carrier of France, and is headquartered in Tremblay-en-France. The airline is a subsidiary of the Air France-KLM Group and is one of the founding members ...

KLM KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, or simply KLM (an abbreviation for their official name Koninklijke Luchtvaart Maatschappij N.V. , ),

Lounge in the international departure area of Concourse C, and an

American Airlines American Airlines, Inc. is a major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, and is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the ...

Admirals Club in Concourse A. A five-level parking garage with 3,800 public parking spaces (including 600 rental car spaces) is located directly across from the terminal along with Sheraton Hotel, both of which are connected to Terminal 3 by an elevated pedestrian walkway. A third public terminal, the Infield Concourse (IFC), currently acts as an extension of Terminal 3 providing additional bridged gates. Passengers on flights arriving or departing from gates at the Infield Terminal are transported by bus to/from Terminal 3.

Infield Concourse

The Infield Concourse (IFC) was originally built to handle traffic displaced during the development and construction of the current Terminal 1. Its 11 gates were opened gradually throughout 2002 and 2003, and a business lounge was opened in 2005. In 2009, the Infield Concourse was closed for regular operations in conjunction with the official opening of the newly constructed Terminal 1. However, the GTAA retained plans to reactivate the IFC for regular operations whenever necessary to accommodate seasonal or overflow demand. The terminal was substantially renovated in late 2015 to serve as a dedicated terminal for incoming government-sponsored refugees of the Syrian civil war. Further renovations were completed at the Infield Concourse in early 2018 and on June 5, 2018, the terminal was reactivated for summer operations by the GTAA to act as an extension of Terminal 3 with the purpose of providing required additional bridged gates. Passengers are transported by bus between Terminal 3 and the IFC. The Infield Concourse has been frequently used as a location to film major motion pictures and television productions.

VIP Terminal

Skyservice FBO operates an private VIP terminal at Toronto Pearson on Midfield Road in the infield area of the airport. The terminal handles most private aircraft arriving and departing at Toronto Pearson, providing passenger services that include a 24/7

concierge A concierge () is an employee of a multi-tenant building, such as a hotel or apartment building, who receives and helps guests. The concept has been applied more generally to other hospitality settings and to personal concierges who manage the e ...

, private customs and immigration facilities, personalized catering, showers, direct handling of baggage, and VIP ground transportation services.

Infrastructure and operations

Runways

Toronto Pearson has five

s, three of which are aligned in the east–west direction, and two in the north–south direction. A large network of

taxiway A taxiway is a path for aircraft at an airport connecting runways with Airport apron, aprons, hangars, Airport terminal, terminals and other facilities. They mostly have a hard surface such as Asphalt concrete, asphalt or concrete, although sma ...

s, collectively measuring over in length, provides access between the runways and the passenger terminals, air cargo areas, and airline

hangar A hangar is a building or structure designed to hold aircraft or spacecraft. Hangars are built of metal, wood, or concrete. The word ''hangar'' comes from Middle French ''hanghart'' ("enclosure near a house"), of Germanic origin, from Frankish ...

areas.

Airfield operations

Toronto Pearson International Airport - panoramio

Toronto Pearson is home to the

Toronto Area Control Centre Toronto Area Control Center is one of seven area control centers in Canada operated by Nav Canada. The Toronto Area Control Centre is based near Toronto Pearson International Airport in Mississauga, Ontario. From the Toronto Area Control Centre, ...

, one of seven area control centres in Canada operated by

Nav Canada Nav Canada (styled as NAV CANADA) is a privately run, non-profit corporation that owns and operates Canada's civil air navigation system (ANS). It was established by statute in accordance with the ''Civil Air Navigation Services Commercializati ...

. The airport uses a Traffic Management Unit (TMU), located in the

apron An apron is a garment worn over other clothing to cover the front of the body to protect from liquids. They have several purposes, most commonly as a functional accessory that protects clothes and skin from stains and marks. However, other typ ...

control tower at Terminal 1, to control the movement of aircraft and other airport traffic on the ground. The main

air traffic control tower Air traffic control (ATC) is a service provided by ground-based air traffic controllers who direct aircraft on the ground and through a given section of controlled airspace, and can provide advisory services to aircraft in non-controlled ai ...

at Toronto Pearson is located within the infield operations area of the airport. The airfield maintenance unit is responsible for general maintenance and repairs at Toronto Pearson. During the

winter Winter is the coldest and darkest season of the year in temperate and polar climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring. The tilt of Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun. Dif ...

months, the unit expands into a dedicated 24-hour

snow removal Snow removal or snow clearing is the job of removing snow after a snowfall to make travel easier and safer. This is done both by individual households and by governments institutions, and commercial businesses. De-icing and anti-icing De-icin ...

team of more than 200 workers tasked with ensuring normal operations at the airport, as Toronto Pearson regularly experiences of total snow accumulation in a typical winter season. The airport employs over 94 pieces of snow removal equipment, including 11 Vammas PSB series, four

Oshkosh Corporation Oshkosh Corporation, formerly Oshkosh Truck, is an American industrial company that designs and builds specialty trucks, military vehicles, truck bodies, airport fire apparatus, and access equipment. The corporation also owns Pierce Manufact ...

Snow Products HT-Series

snowplow A snowplow (also snow plow, snowplough or snow plough) is a device intended for mounting on a vehicle, used for removing snow and ice from outdoor surfaces, typically those serving transportation purposes. Although this term is often used to ref ...

units, and 14 snowmelters. Pearson Airport's Central

De-icing De-icing is the process of removing snow, ice or frost from a surface. Anti-icing is the application of chemicals that not only de-ice but also remain on a surface and continue to delay the reformation of ice for a certain period of time, or pr ...

Facility is the largest in the world, servicing over 10,500 aircraft each winter. The six de-icing bays, covering a total area of , can handle 12 aircraft simultaneously and take between 2 and 19 minutes to

de-ice De-icing is the process of removing snow, ice or frost from a surface. Anti-icing is the application of chemicals that not only de-ice but also remain on a surface and continue to delay the reformation of ice for a certain period of time, or pr ...

each aircraft dependent on factors such as active weather and aircraft specifications. The Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA) Fire and Emergency Service maintains three

stations Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle stat ...

at the airport, with more than 80

firefighter A firefighter (or fire fighter or fireman) is a first responder trained in specific emergency response such as firefighting, primarily to control and extinguish fires and respond to emergencies such as hazardous material incidents, medical in ...

s providing fire and rescue operations at Toronto Pearson. They are equipped with six crash tenders as well as several

pumpers A fire engine or fire truck (also spelled firetruck) is a vehicle, usually a specially designed or modified truck, that functions as a firefighting apparatus. The primary purposes of a fire engine include transporting firefighters and water to ...

, aerial ladders, and heavy rescue units. The GTAA Fire and Emergency Service operates in conjunction with the Fire and Emergency Services Training Institute (FESTI), located at the northwest end of the airport grounds.

Cargo facilities

Toronto Pearson handles approximately half of all the international

air cargo Air cargo is any property carried or to be carried in an aircraft. Air cargo comprises air freight, air express and airmail. Aircraft types Different cargo can be transported by passenger, cargo or combi aircraft: * Passenger aircraft use the ...

in Canada. The airport has three main cargo facilities, known as Cargo West (Infield), Cargo East (VISTA), and Cargo North (

FedEx FedEx Corporation, originally known as Federal Express Corporation, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate holding company specializing in Package delivery, transportation, e-commerce, and ...

). The Cargo West facility (also known as the Infield Cargo Area) is located between runways 15L/33R and 15R/33L. It is a multi-tenant facility including three large buildings with of

warehouse A warehouse is a building for storing goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial parks on the rural–urban fringe, out ...

space, a common use cargo

, vehicle parking, and a truck maneuvering area. A four-lane vehicle tunnel connects the Infield Cargo Area to the passenger terminal area of the airport. The Cargo East facility (also known as the VISTA cargo area) is located north of Terminal 3. The VISTA cargo area is a multi-tenant facility of several buildings organized in a U-shape, with of warehouse space and an adjacent common-use cargo apron. The Cargo North facility is the Canadian hub for

FedEx Express FedEx Express is a major American cargo airline based in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. As of 2023, it is the world's List of largest airlines, largest cargo airline in terms of fleet size and freight tons flown. It is the namesake and leadi ...

. The site occupies an area on the north side of the airport near runway 05/23 and is home to two buildings operated exclusively by FedEx with of warehouse space and a dedicated cargo apron.

Security

The

Peel Regional Police The Peel Regional Police (PRP; ) provides policing services for Peel Region (excluding Caledon) in Ontario, Canada. It is the second largest municipal police service in the Greater Toronto Area in Ontario, and the third largest municipal force b ...

is the primary

law enforcement agency A law enforcement agency (LEA) is any government agency responsible for law enforcement within a specific jurisdiction through the employment and deployment of law enforcement officers and their resources. The most common type of law enforcement ...

at Pearson Airport. The

Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; , GRC) is the Law enforcement in Canada, national police service of Canada. The RCMP is an agency of the Government of Canada; it also provides police services under contract to 11 Provinces and terri ...

(RCMP) also maintain a Toronto Airport Detachment at Pearson Airport, which provides federal law enforcement services. The

Canadian Air Transport Security Authority The Canadian Air Transport Security Authority (CATSA; ) is the Canadian Crown Corporation responsible for security screening of people and baggage and the administration of identity cards at the 89 designated airports in Canada. CATSA responds ...

(CATSA) is responsible for security screening procedures at Pearson Airport. Other

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a State (polity), state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive (government), execu ...

agencies with security operations at Pearson include the

Canada Border Services Agency The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA; , ''ASFC'') is a federal law enforcement agency that is responsible for border guard, border control (i.e. protection and surveillance), immigration enforcement, and Customs, customs services in Canada. ...

(CBSA),

Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC; )Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program since 2015; the legal title is Department of Citizenship and Immigration (). is the Ministry ...

(IRCC), the

Canadian Security Intelligence Service The Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS, ; , ''SCRS'') is a Intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service and security agency of the Government of Canada, federal government of Canada. It is responsible for gathering, processing, a ...

(CSIS), and

. In addition,

U.S. Customs and Border Protection United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is the largest federal law enforcement agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security. It is the country's primary border control organization, charged with regulating and facilita ...

(CBP) and

United States Citizenship and Immigration Services United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) is an agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) that administers the country's naturalization and Immigration to the United States, immigration system. History ...

(USCIS) from the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

also conduct operations at the airport to facilitate

Other facilities

Pearson Airport has seven aircraft maintenance

s, operated by Air Canada, Air Transat, WestJet, and the GTAA, which are used for line maintenance and routine aircraft inspections. At the north end of the airfield are numerous independently operated hangars for charter aircraft and personal private aircraft based at Pearson Airport, along with passenger and maintenance facilities to service them. The

maintains administrative offices on Convair Drive, near the southeast corner of the airfield.

Gate Gourmet A gate or gateway is a point of entry to or from a space enclosed by walls. The word is derived from Proto-Germanic ''*gatan'', meaning an opening or passageway. Synonyms include yett (which comes from the same root word) and portal. The co ...

and CLS Catering Services both operate dedicated flight kitchen facilities at Pearson Airport for

airline catering An airline meal, airline food, or in-flight meal is a meal served to passengers on board a commercial airliner. These meals are prepared by specialist airline catering services and are normally served to passengers using an airline service tro ...

services.

Aviation fuel Aviation fuels are either petroleum-based or blends of petroleum and synthetic fuels, used to power aircraft. They have more stringent requirements than fuels used for ground applications, such as heating and road transport, and they contain add ...

is supplied by

Esso Esso () is a trading name for ExxonMobil. Originally, the name was primarily used by its predecessor Standard Oil of New Jersey after the breakup of the original Standard Oil company in 1911. The company adopted the name "Esso" (from the phon ...

Avitat (Jet A-1) and

Shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses Science Biology * Seashell, a hard outer layer of a marine ani ...

Aerocentre (Jet A and A-1), both located in the infield operations area of the airport.

has a large distribution centre on the north side of the airfield connected with multiple large jet parking bays and logistics handling facilities for servicing the Greater Toronto Area.

Bombardier Aviation Bombardier Aviation, a division of Bombardier Inc., is headquartered in Dorval, Quebec, Canada. The company currently produces the Bombardier Global Express, Global and Bombardier Challenger 600, Challenger series of Business jet, business je ...

Bombardier Global Express The Bombardier Global Express is a large cabin, long-range business jet designed and manufactured by Bombardier Aviation. Announced in October 1991, it first flew in October 1996, received its Canadian type certification in July 1998 and ente ...

business jet final assembly is completed at the Bombardier Aerospace Campus located on the north side of the airfield.

Airlines and destinations

Passenger

Cargo

Ground transportation

Train

Union Pearson Express

The

Union Pearson Express The Union Pearson Express (UP Express or UPX) is an airport rail link connecting Union Station (Toronto), Union Station in Downtown Toronto to Toronto Pearson International Airport. The UP Express began operation on 6 June 2015, in time for the ...

(UP Express) is an airport rail link running between Pearson Airport and

Union Station A union station, union terminal, joint station, or joint-use station is a railway station at which the tracks and facilities are shared by two or more separate railway company, railway companies, allowing passengers to connect conveniently bet ...

, with intermediate stops at and GO Train stations. Trains depart every 15 minutes from

Toronto Pearson Terminal 1 station Terminal 1 station, or Pearson station, is a railway and people-mover station at Toronto Pearson International Airport in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. It is the eastern terminus of the inter-terminal Terminal Link, and the western terminus of th ...

and provide a 25-minute travel time to Union Station, the busiest intermodal transportation facility in Canada. Union Station offers connections to numerous

GO Transit GO Transit is a regional public transit system serving the Greater Golden Horseshoe region of Ontario, Canada. With its hub at Union Station in Toronto, GO Transit's green-and-white trains and buses serve a population of more than seven mil ...

regional rail and bus services as well as

inter-city rail Inter-city rail services are Express train, express trains that run services that connect cities over longer distances than Commuter rail, commuter or Regional rail, regional trains. They include rail services that are neither short-distance co ...

links on

Via Rail Via Rail Canada Inc. (), operating as Via Rail or Via (stylized as VIA Rail), is a Canadian Crown corporation that operates intercity passenger rail service in Canada. As of December 2023, Via Rail operates 406 trains per week across eight ...

Quebec City–Windsor Corridor The Quebec City–Windsor Corridor () is the most densely populated and heavily industrialized region of Canada. As its name suggests, the -long region extends from Quebec City in the northeast to Windsor, Ontario in the southwest. With more tha ...

. Combined UP Express and inter-city tickets may be purchased from Via Rail. The UP Express operates daily between 5:27 am and 12:57 am of the next calendar day.

Terminal Link

The

Terminal Link The Terminal Link, formerly known as Link Train, is an automated people mover (APM) at Toronto Pearson International Airport in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Cana ...

(formerly the Link Train) is an automated

people mover A people mover or automated people mover (APM) is a type of small-scale automated guideway transit system. The term is generally used only to describe systems serving relatively small areas such as airports, downtown districts or theme parks ...

that facilitates inter-terminal transportation at Pearson Airport. It runs between Terminal 1, Terminal 3, and

Toronto Pearson Viscount station Viscount station is the northern terminus of the Terminal Link automated people mover serving Toronto Pearson International Airport in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. It is located on the south side of Viscount Road, between American Drive and High ...

located at the Viscount Value Park Lot, connecting directly to the airport terminals at

and Toronto Pearson Terminal 3 station. The Terminal Link train operates daily, 24-hour service with trains departing all stations every 4 to 8 minutes.

Bus

Public transit

Several public transit bus services operate bus routes to Toronto Pearson International Airport.

Toronto Transit Commission The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) is the primary public transport agency in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, operating the majority of the city's transit bus, bus and rail services. It is the oldest and largest of the urban transit service providers ...

(TTC) operates daily, 24-hour public transit bus service from Pearson Airport to various subway stations in Toronto, with route 900 Airport Express being the main express bus service to the airport from Kipling station on

Line 2 Bloor–Danforth Line 2 Bloor–Danforth is a rapid transit line in the Toronto subway system, operated by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC). It has 31 Metro station, stations and is in length. It opened on February 26, 1966, and extensions at both ends we ...

of the

Toronto subway The Toronto subway is a rapid transit system serving Toronto and the neighbouring city of Vaughan in Ontario, Canada, operated by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC). The subway system is a rail network consisting of three heavy-capacity rai ...

, and route 52 Lawrence West / 352 Lawrence West Night / 952 Lawrence West Express operate service along

Lawrence Avenue Lawrence Avenue is a major east–west thoroughfare in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is divided into east and west portions (Lawrence Avenue East and Lawrence Avenue West) by Yonge Street, the dividing line of east–west streets in Toronto. Rout ...

to and

Lawrence West station Lawrence West is a subway station on Line 1 Yonge–University in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located in the median of William R. Allen Road at Lawrence Avenue, Lawrence Avenue West. The station serves the local communities of Lawrence Height ...

s on the subway's

Line 1 Yonge–University Line 1 Yonge–University is a rapid transit line of the Toronto subway. It serves Toronto and the neighbouring city of Vaughan in Ontario, Canada. It is operated by the Toronto Transit Commission, has 38 stations and is in length, making it t ...

. Additionally, route 900 Airport Express buses have a unique airport-themed livery and luggage racks. The TTC

Blue Night Network The Blue Night Network is the Night bus service, overnight public transit service operated by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The network consists of a basic grid of 27 bus and 7 streetcar routes, distributed so ...

operates local

night bus Night service, sometimes also known as owl service, is a mode of public transport service operated during the night hours. As an intermediate approach – between providing full service around the clock and stopping services altogether – it p ...

routes to

Warden Avenue A warden is a custodian, defender, or guardian. Warden is often used in the sense of a watchman or guardian, as in a prison warden. It can also refer to a chief or head official, as in the Warden of the Mint. ''Warden'' is etymologically iden ...

in Toronto's east end via

Bloor Street Bloor Street is an east–west arterial road in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Bloor Street runs from the Prince Edward Viaduct, which spans the Don River (Ontario), Don River Valley, westward into Mississauga where it ends at Central Parkway. East ...

and

Danforth Avenue Danforth Avenue (informally also known as the Danforth) and Danforth Road are two historically-related arterial streets in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Danforth ''Avenue'' is an east-west street that begins in Old Toronto at the Prince Edward Vi ...

Eglinton station Eglinton is a subway station on Line 1 Yonge–University of the Toronto subway. Located on Eglinton Avenue, it is central to the Yonge–Eglinton neighbourhood in Midtown Toronto. Eglinton station is the seventh busiest station of the Toronto ...

via

Eglinton Avenue Eglinton Avenue is a major east–west Arterial road, arterial thoroughfare in Toronto and Mississauga in the Canadian province of Ontario. The street begins at Ontario Highway 407, Highway 407 (but does not interchange with the tollway) at the w ...

and Sunnybrook Hospital. Although the airport terminals are situated outside of the Toronto city limits, TTC bus services at Pearson Airport do not require a supplementary fare. TTC buses serve both Terminal 1 and Terminal 3. Two public transit operators based in Peel Region also operate routes to the airport:

Brampton Transit Brampton Transit (BT) is a public transport bus operator for the City of Brampton in the Regional Municipality of Peel, and within the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) in Ontario, Canada. Brampton Transit began operations in 1974. In , the system had ...

and

MiWay MiWay (; stylized MiWay), also known as Mississauga Transit and originally as Mississauga Transit Systems, is the municipal public transport agency serving Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, and is responsible to the city's Transportation and Wor ...

operates all-day public transit bus service from Pearson Airport to the city of

Brampton Brampton is a city in the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario, and the regional seat of the Regional Municipality of Peel. It is part of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and is a List of municipalities in Ontario#L ...

, with express service operating to Bramalea Terminal. Brampton Transit buses arrive and depart from Terminal 1. MiWay operates all-day public transit bus service from Pearson Airport to the city of

, with express service to City Centre Transit Terminal,

Humber College The Humber College Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning, rebranded as Humber Polytechnic since 2024, is a public Institute of Technology and Advanced Learning, college in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Founded in 1967, Humber has three mai ...

, and Winston Churchill Transitway Station, and local routes to Westwood Square Terminal,

Renforth station Renforth, referred to during planning as Renforth Gateway, is a bus station on the border of the cities of Mississauga and Toronto, in Ontario, Canada. Located at Eglinton Avenue and Renforth Drive (although the station entrance is on Commerce B ...

, and Meadowvale Town Centre Terminal. MiWay buses arrive and depart from Terminal 1, Terminal 3,

, and the infield operations area of the airport. Gotransitpearson

operates two 24-hour bus routes from the airport to cities across the

Greater Toronto Area The Greater Toronto Area, commonly referred to as the GTA, includes the Toronto, City of Toronto and the regional municipality, regional municipalities of Regional Municipality of Durham, Durham, Regional Municipality of Halton, Halton, Regional ...

: route 40 to Richmond Hill Terminal and

Hamilton GO Centre Hamilton GO Centre is a commuter rail station and bus terminal in downtown Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. As the terminal stop for evening rush-hour Lakeshore West line trains, it is a major hub for GO Transit bus and train services. History Hamilto ...

and route 94 to Pickering GO Station and Square One Bus Terminal. GO Transit coaches arrive and depart from Terminal 1.

Private

The airport is served by several long-distance

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

, van and

minibus A minibus, microbus, or minicoach is a passenger-carrying motor vehicle that is designed to carry more people than a multi-purpose vehicle or minivan, but fewer people than a full-size bus. In the United Kingdom, the word "minibus" is us ...

shuttle operators, which provide transportation from the airport to various municipalities and regional airports throughout

Southern Ontario Southern Ontario is a Region, primary region of the Canadian Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Ontario. It is the most densely populated and southernmost region in Canada, with approximately 13.5 million people, approximately 36% o ...

and to select cities and towns in the U.S. states of

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

and

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

Coach Canada Coach Canada is the Canadian affiliate of Coach USA. Charter services (rental of bus with driver) originating in most areas in Ontario can travel to anywhere in North America. However, Megabus operations are confined to the provinces of Quebec a ...

's Megabus service provides bus service between Pearson Airport and Hamilton International Airport to the west as well as between Pearson Airport and destinations east of Toronto, such as Port Hope, Trenton, Belleville, Napanee,

Kingston Kingston may refer to: Places * List of places called Kingston, including the six most populated: ** Kingston, Jamaica ** Kingston upon Hull, England ** City of Kingston, Victoria, Australia ** Kingston, Ontario, Canada ** Kingston upon Thames, ...

, and

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

Car

Toronto Pearson is directly accessible from Highway 427 and Highway 409 with Airport Road and Dixon Road providing local access to the airport. There are 12,200 parking spaces available in parking garages adjacent to Terminal 1 and Terminal 3, in addition to several other

parking lot A parking lot or car park (British English), also known as a car lot, is a cleared area intended for parking vehicles. The term usually refers to an area dedicated only for parking, with a durable or semi-durable surface. In most jurisdi ...

s located in the immediate area.

Car rental A car rental, hire car or car hire agency is a company that rents automobiles for short periods of time to the public, generally ranging from a few hours to a few weeks. It is often organized with numerous local branches (which allow a user t ...

s are available from various major car rental agencies located in the parking garages adjacent to both terminals. Car rentals are also available from off-airport car rental agencies located near

, accessible from both terminals via the Terminal Link.

Taxi

Taxi A taxi, also known as a taxicab or simply a cab, is a type of vehicle for hire with a Driving, driver, used by a single passenger or small group of passengers, often for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of thei ...

s and

limousine A limousine ( or ), or limo () for short, is a large, chauffeur-driven luxury vehicle with a partition between the driver compartment and the passenger compartment which can be operated mechanically by hand or by a button electronically. A luxu ...

s can be accessed at designated

taxi stand A taxicab stand (also called taxi rank, cab stand, taxi stand, cab rank, or hack stand) is a queue area on a street or on private property where taxicabs line up to wait for passengers. Operation Stands are normally located at high-traffic l ...

s located outside of both Terminal 1 and Terminal 3. Only official airport-licensed taxis and limousines can legally pick up passengers at Toronto Pearson, and all airport-licensed taxi and limo companies use GTAA-authorized

flat rate A flat fee, also referred to as a flat rate or a linear rate refers to a pricing structure that charges a single fixed fee for a service, regardless of usage. Less commonly, the term may refer to a rate that does not vary with usage or time of u ...

fares for travel from the airport.

Rideshare

Ridesharing services

Uber Uber Technologies, Inc. is an American multinational transportation company that provides Ridesharing company, ride-hailing services, courier services, food delivery, and freight transport. It is headquartered in San Francisco, California, a ...

and

Lyft Lyft, Inc. is an American company offering ride-hailing services, motorized scooters, and bicycle-sharing systems in the United States and Canada. Lyft sets fares, which vary using a dynamic pricing model based on local supply and demand a ...

are available at Pearson Airport. Designated rideshare pickup zones are located at both Terminal 1 and Terminal 3. Terminal 1 pickup is from the ground level, while Terminal 3 pickup is from the arrivals level.

Future

In February 2017, the GTAA announced a proposed transit hub to be located across from Terminal 3 that would connect with

and may connect with other transit lines extended to the airport like

Line 5 Eglinton Line 5 Eglinton, also known as the Eglinton Crosstown LRT or the Crosstown, is a light rail transit line that is under construction in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, that will be part of the Toronto subway system. Owned by Metrolinx and operated by t ...

LRT of the Toronto subway and GO Expansion (formerly known as GO Transit Regional Express Rail). This proposal would eliminate the Terminal Link connecting Terminals 1 and 3 with a bridge from the transit hub to Terminal 3 and another bridge connecting Terminal 3 to Terminal 1. Since 2020,

Metrolinx Metrolinx is a transportation agency in Ontario, Canada. It is a Crown agency that manages and integrates road and public transportation in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA). It was created as the Greater Toronto Transportation Au ...

is planning the second phase of the Eglinton Crosstown West Extension, which is a western extension of the under-construction Line 5 Eglinton to a proposed transit hub at Pearson Airport across the terminals at the site of Viscount Station. The extension is scheduled to open in 2030–31. As of 2020, the segment of the extension to Pearson Airport is under study by Metrolinx and the GTAA. The line will connect the airport to

Midtown Toronto Midtown is one of four central business districts outside the city's downtown core of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Located in the north of Old Toronto, its borders are roughly defined by St. Clair Avenue to the south and Eglinton Avenue or Lawren ...

and

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, sub ...

with additional transfers to

. Metrolinx is also studying a potential connection with

Line 6 Finch West Line 6 Finch West, also known as the Finch West LRT, is a light rail transit line under construction in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, to be operated by the Toronto Transit Commission. The , 18-stop line is to extend from Finch West station on Line ...

to the transit hub with additional transfers on Line 1 Yonge-University to

York University York University (), also known as YorkU or simply YU), is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, and it has approximately 53,500 students, 7,000 faculty and staff, ...

and

Vaughan Metropolitan Centre Vaughan Metropolitan Centre is the city centre of Vaughan, Ontario, Canada. Measuring , the district is located at the intersection of Highway 7 and Jane Street (Toronto), Jane Street, northeast of the Ontario Highway 400, Highway 400 and Ontario ...

. Other connections like the

Mississauga Transitway The Mississauga Transitway is a bus rapid transit (BRT) system in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada. It comprises a series of purpose-constructed Bus lane, bus-only roadways, as well as reserved lanes on existing city streets and portions of Ontario ...

, which would connect the airport to Mississauga City Centre, are being studied.

Statistics

Annual traffic

;Notes:

Incidents and accidents

* The airport's deadliest accident occurred on July 5, 1970, when Air Canada Flight 621, a

DC-8 The Douglas DC-8 (sometimes McDonnell Douglas DC-8) is an early long-range narrow-body jetliner designed and produced by the American Douglas Aircraft Company. Work began in 1952 towards the United States Air Force's (USAF) requirement for a j ...

jet, flew on a Montreal–Toronto–Los Angeles route. The pilots inadvertently deployed spoilers before the plane attempted

landing Landing is the last part of a flight, where a flying animal, aircraft, or spacecraft returns to the ground. When the flying object returns to water, the process is called alighting, although it is commonly called "landing", "touchdown" or " spl ...

, forcing the pilots to abort landing and

takeoff Takeoff is the phase of flight in which an aerospace vehicle leaves the ground and becomes airborne. For aircraft traveling vertically, this is known as liftoff. For aircraft that take off horizontally, this usually involves starting with a tr ...

. Damage to the aircraft that was caused during the failed landing attempt caused the plane to break up in the air during the

go-around In aviation, a go-around is an aborted landing of an aircraft that is on Final_approach_(aeronautics), final approach or has already touched down. A go-around can either be initiated by the pilot flying or requested by air traffic control for var ...

, killing all 100 passengers and nine crew members on board when it crashed into a field southeast of

. Controversy remains over the cleanup effort following the crash, as both plane wreckage debris and human remains from the crash are still found on the site. * On June 26, 1978, Air Canada Flight 189 to

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red River of the North, Red and Assiniboine River, Assiniboine rivers. , Winnipeg h ...

overran the runway during an aborted takeoff, and crashed into the Etobicoke Creek ravine. Two of the 107 occupants on board the

DC-9 The McDonnell Douglas DC-9 is an American five-abreast, single-aisle aircraft designed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. It was initially produced as the Douglas DC-9 prior to August 1967, after which point the company had merged with McDonnell A ...

were killed. * On July 9, 1981, a KF Cargo Howard 500, pitched nose up after takeoff, stalled and crashed due to improper loading of parcels, exceeding the centre of gravity. All three crew were killed. * On January 11, 1983, a Sun Oil Co.

North American Sabreliner The North American Sabreliner, later sold as the Rockwell Sabreliner, is an American mid-sized business jet developed by North American Aviation. It was offered to the United States Air Force (USAF) in response to its Utility Trainer Experimen ...

crashed approximately 8 miles from runway 24R on an ILS approach to YYZ after descending steeply from the clouds and losing control, before crashing to the ground. All two crew and three passengers died. Cause unknown. * On June 22, 1983, Douglas C-47A C-GUBT of Skycraft Air Transport crashed on takeoff roll at Toronto International Airport while on an international cargo flight from

Cleveland Hopkins International Airport Cleveland Hopkins International Airport is a city-owned international airport in Cleveland, Ohio, United States, and is the primary airport serving Greater Cleveland and Northeast Ohio. It is the largest and busiest airport in the state, as w ...

in northeastern

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

. Both of the crew members were killed. * On September 2, 1995, a

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

Hawker Siddeley Nimrod The Hawker Siddeley Nimrod is a retired maritime patrol aircraft developed and operated by the United Kingdom. It was an extensive modification of the de Havilland Comet, the world's first operational jet airliner. It was originally designed ...

performing in an airshow originating in and out of YYZ crashed half a mile south of

Toronto City Centre Airport Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport is a regional airport located on the Toronto Islands in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is often referred to as Toronto Island Airport and was previously known as ''Port George VI Island Airport'' and ''Toronto C ...

after a maneuver caused the aircraft to stall and crash into

. All seven occupants perished. * On August 2, 2005, Air France Flight 358, an Airbus A340-300 (registration F-GLZQ) inbound from

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, landed on runway 24L during a severe thunderstorm, failed to stop, and ran off of the runway into the Etobicoke Creek ravine. It came to a stop next to busy

Highway 401 King's Highway 401, commonly referred to as Highway 401 and also known by its official name as the Macdonald–Cartier Freeway or colloquially referred to as the four-oh-one, is a controlled-access 400-series highway in the Canadian prov ...

. In the ensuing fire, there were 12 serious injuries, but no fatalities. The investigation predominantly blamed pilot error when faced with severe weather conditions. * On July 25, 2014,

Sunwing Airlines Sunwing Airlines Inc. was a Canadian low-cost airline headquartered in Toronto, Ontario with its main bases at Montréal–Trudeau International Airport and Toronto Pearson International Airport. From 2023 onwards, it was a subsidiary of W ...

Flight 772, which had taken off from Toronto bound for Scarlett Martínez International Airport, in Rio Hato,

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

, was forced to return to Toronto after a passenger made a

bomb threat A bomb threat or bomb scare is a threat, usually verbal or written, to detonate an explosive or incendiary device to cause property damage, death, injuries, and/or incite fear, whether or not such a device actually exists. History Bomb threats ...

; the plane was escorted back to Toronto by US Air Force planes. After it landed safely, the passenger was arrested and underwent a mental examination. * On January 5, 2018, WestJet Flight 434, a 737-800, was struck by an inactive Sunwing aircraft, also a 737-800, being towed from the terminal. The plane caught fire and pilots ordered an evacuation. No serious injuries were reported. The Sunwing aircraft suffered significant damage. * On May 10, 2019, Air Canada Flight 8615, a Bombardier DHC-8-300 (registration C-FJXZ), was struck by a fuel truck while taxiing on the tarmac. Five persons were injured and the plane was deemed a write-off. * On March 7, 2020, two

aircraft were involved in a

runway incursion A runway incursion is an Aviation accidents and incidents, aviation incident involving improper positioning of vehicles or people on any runway, airport runway or its Critical_area_(aeronautics), protected area. When an incursion involves an '' ...

. Air Canada Flight 1037, an

Embraer Embraer S.A. () is a Brazilian multinational aerospace corporation. It develops and manufactures aircraft and aviation systems, and provides leasing, equipment, and technical support services. Embraer is the third largest producer of civil air ...

E-190 (registration C-FMZW) was taking off from Runway 06L at Toronto when the takeoff was rejected due to a bird strike. An improper transponder showed the tower controller that the E-190 was airborne after 50 kts, and, therefore, sent an Air Canada Boeing 777-300 (registration C-FJZS), operating as

Flight 606, to depart. The pilots of the E-190 were transmitting on frequency that they had rejected their takeoff due to a birdstrike, but at the same time, the pilots of the 777 were reading back their takeoff clearance. As the 777 was accelerating, the pilots observed the Embraer-190 was still on the runway, and initiated a rejected takeoff. A

report stated that the use of this data by NAV Canada's runway incursion monitoring and conflict alert sub-system (RIMCAS) led to the inaccurate identification of the

Embraer 190 The Embraer E-Jet family is a series of four-abreast, narrow-body, short- to medium-range, twin-engined jet airliners designed and produced by Brazilian aerospace manufacturer Embraer. The E-Jet was designed to complement Embraer’s earlier ...

and the

Boeing 777 The Boeing 777, commonly referred to as the Triple Seven, is an American long-range wide-body airliner developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. The 777 is the world's largest twinjet and the most-built wide-body airliner. ...

as in the air while these two aircraft were still on the ground. This resulted in late and inaccurate RIMCAS alerts and delayed the

air traffic controller An Air traffic controller (ATC) is a person responsible for the coordination of traffic in their assigned airspace. Typically stationed in area control centers or control towers, they monitor the position, speed, and altitude of aircraft and c ...

's response to the risk of collision. * On April 17, 2023, a robbery occurred, with over $20 million worth of

gold Gold is a chemical element; it has chemical symbol Au (from Latin ) and atomic number 79. In its pure form, it is a brightness, bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile metal. Chemically, gold is a transition metal ...

and other high-value items being stolen. A container was offloaded from a reported

aircraft during the evening hours and was unloaded under normal procedures. The cargo was taken to a holding facility before it was stolen. The goods were being handled by American private security and protection company

Brink's The Brink's Company is an American Automated cash handling, cash handling company, headquartered in Richmond, Virginia. Its operations include cash-in-transit, ATM replenishment & maintenance, and cash management & payment services, such as va ...

. * On January 8, 2024, a man having a mental crisis boarded a Boeing 777 operated by Air Canada, and during the boarding process, tried to open the door of the plane, resulting in him falling down onto the tarmac. He was injured and arrested. * On January 21, 2024, Air France Flight 356, an Airbus A350-900 (registration F-HTYH) initiated a

after touching down on runway 24L, suffering a

tailstrike In aviation, a tailstrike or tail strike occurs when the tail or empennage of an aircraft strikes the ground or other stationary object. This can happen with a fixed-wing aircraft with tricycle undercarriage, in both takeoff where the pilot r ...

in the process. After circling around for a second attempt, the aircraft landed on the same runway without further incident. No injuries were reported but the aircraft received significant damage. This was due to a landing rate warning, meaning too much speed and not enough runway left to safely stop the aircraft. * On February 17, 2025,

Delta Connection Flight 4819 Delta Connection Flight 4819 was a scheduled international passenger flight from Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport in the United States to Toronto Pearson International Airport in Canada that crashed upon landing on February 17, 20 ...

, a Bombardier CRJ-900LR operated by

Endeavor Air Endeavor Air is a regional airline in the United States headquartered at the Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Delta Air Lines, and staffs, operates, and maintains airc ...

(registration N932XJ), crashed and flipped upside down while attempting to land on runway 23, injuring at least 21 of the 80 occupants aboard. The preliminary report indicates the rate of descent was -1100fpm and the First Officer was PIC. 1.6 seconds to impact, the landing rate decreased to -1072fpm. * On April 24, 2025, a man who locked himself in an SUV at the Terminal 1 departures level was shot dead by police after he appeared to produce a firearm.

In popular culture

The music video for the song " The Good in Everyone" by Canadian rock band Sloan was filmed on Convair Drive at the southwest end of runway 06L/24R at . In 1987,

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments ...

used a hangar at the airport for rehearsals for their

A Momentary Lapse of Reason Tour A Momentary Lapse of Reason Tour was two consecutive concert tours by the English rock band Pink Floyd. The ''A Momentary Lapse of Reason tour'' ran from September 1987 to August 1988; the ''Another Lapse tour'' ran from May–July 1989. Both t ...

Rush

Canadian rock trio Rush had an instrumental piece titled " YYZ," which is on their 1981 album ''Moving Pictures''. Two of the band's members,

Geddy Lee Geddy Lee Weinrib (; born Gary Lee Weinrib, July 29, 1953) is a Canadian musician, best known as the lead vocalist, bassist, and keyboardist for the Rock music, rock band Rush (band), Rush. Lee joined the band in September 1968 at the request o ...

and

Alex Lifeson Aleksandar Živojinović (born 27 August 1953), known professionally as Alex Lifeson (), is a Canadian musician, best known as the guitarist for the rock band Rush. In 1968, he co-founded a band (which later became Rush) with drummer John Rut ...

, are natives of Toronto. The song, often requested by fans, was frequently played by the band in concert. A

VHF omnidirectional range Very High Frequency Omnidirectional Range Station (VOR) is a type of short-range VHF radio navigation system for aircraft, enabling aircraft with a VOR receiver to determine the azimuth (also radial), referenced to magnetic north, between the a ...

system at the airport broadcasts the YYZ identifier code in

Morse code Morse code is a telecommunications method which Character encoding, encodes Written language, text characters as standardized sequences of two different signal durations, called ''dots'' and ''dashes'', or ''dits'' and ''dahs''. Morse code i ...

, which the band once heard when Lifeson was flying them into the airport. The band's drummer,

Neil Peart Neil Ellwood Peart ( ; September 12, 1952 – January 7, 2020) was a Canadian and American musician, known as the drummer, percussionist, and primary lyricist of the rock band Rush (band), Rush. He was known to fans by the nickname "the Profe ...

, said in interviews that the rhythm stuck with them. Peart and Lee have both said, "It's always a happy day when YYZ appears on our luggage tags." The piece's introduction repeatedly renders "Y-Y-Z" in Morse Code using various musical arrangements. In 2023, a Rush-themed specialty bar opened in the airport's Terminal 1. The bar, Henderson Brewing@YYZ, is run by

craft brewery Craft beer is beer manufactured by craft breweries, which typically produce smaller amounts of beer than larger "macro" breweries and are often independently owned. Such breweries are generally perceived and marketed as emphasising enthusiasm, ne ...

Henderson Brewery, based in the Junction Triangle in Toronto.

Notes

References

External links

* *
Malton: Farms to Flying Book by Kathleen A. Hicks – PDF

Toronto Pearson airport travel data
at Airportsdata.net {{Authority control 1938 establishments in Ontario Airports established in 1938 Buildings and structures in Mississauga Certified airports in Ontario Transport in Mississauga Transport in Toronto Airports of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan Canadian airports with United States border preclearance National Airports System Royal Canadian Air Force stations Military airbases in Ontario Military history of Ontario