Canada is closer and cheaper to reach than most Americans expect, especially if you’re flying from the East Coast or Midwest. A lot of these routes are short hops, and a strong US dollar means your money stretches further the moment you land. The trick is knowing which cities to fly into, since some draw far better fares than others.
I’ve flown into most of these airports myself, from big hubs like Toronto and Montreal to smaller picks like Thunder Bay and Charlottetown. Below are the eight cheapest places to fly into Canada, with the best airlines, rough fare ranges, and the best time of year to book each one. A few of them regularly turn up roundtrips well under $200!
Before You Book
One quick entry note. US citizens don’t need a visa or an eTA to fly to Canada, just a valid passport. But if you’re a green card holder or travel on a visa-exempt passport from another country, you’ll need an eTA before you fly. It costs just CAD $7 and takes a few minutes online, so apply through the official Government of Canada site and avoid the copycat sites that overcharge. Sort it early so a cheap fare doesn’t turn into a gate headache.
Want to look beyond Canada? These are hidden gems around the world you can fly to for under $400 right now.
#1 tip for finding cheap flights to Canada
Want alerts on cheap flights to Canada straight to your inbox? Sign up for Going (formerly Scott’s Cheap Flights), a membership-based service that finds huge discounts, mistake fares, and points and miles deals. Last year they helped me snag a roundtrip from Boston to Toronto for $97, about 40% less than the going rate. All you have to do is enter your home airport and where you want to go.
There’s a free and a premium version and the free one has pretty much everything you’ll need. Though if you’re like me and travel a lot, it’s worth upgrading to the paid version for $49 per year. I recommend signing up for the free trial to try it for yourself. And if you like it, use my code JON25 for 25% off your membership!
1. Ottawa, Ontario ($150–$290 roundtrip)
- ✈️ Flight Time from U.S.: 1-5 hours with direct flights from major East Coast and Midwest hubs
- 🛫 Best Airlines: Porter, Air Canada, United (best deals often Tuesday-Wednesday)
- 💸 Why It’s Cheap: Capital city focus 🏛️, Porter expansion routes ✈️, favorable exchange rates 💱, off-radar tourism 🍁
- 🔥 Perfect for: History buffs 🏛️, political junkies 🗳️, canal skaters ⛸️, festival lovers 🎭
Ottawa gets overshadowed by its flashier neighbors, but that’s what makes it such a smart move. Flights are cheap, crowds are thin, and your dollar goes way further than it does in most other capital cities.
Parliament Hill looks like something straight out of a European fairytale but with free tours and way fewer tourists. In winter, the Rideau Canal freezes into the world’s longest skating rink where locals commute to work on ice skates with coffee in hand (seriously). ByWard Market is packed with amazing food stalls where you’ve gotta try those famous BeaverTails pastries, which is basically Canada’s superior answer to funnel cake.
Porter Airlines keeps prices low with short-haul flights. With most tourists busy taking selfies in Montreal and Toronto, Ottawa gives you all the Canadian charm at prices that won’t make your credit card cry.
Flying Up Front?
Most Canada routes are short enough that economy is the easy call, but if you’re connecting onward or just want more room, it’s worth a look at Going Elite. It tracks discounted business and premium economy fares, the kind that turn a pricey seat into something far closer to coach. You set your home airports, and the premium deals land in your inbox. For a longer haul out west to Vancouver, it can be the difference-maker.
2. Halifax, Nova Scotia ($170–$310 roundtrip)
- ✈️ Flight Time from U.S.: 1.5-6 hours with direct flights from Boston, NYC and seasonal service from Philadelphia
- 🛫 Best Airlines: Porter, Air Canada, United (best deals via connecting flights)
- 💸 Why It’s Cheap: East Coast proximity 🏆, maritime tourism push 🌊, seasonal competition ✈️, favorable exchange rates 💱
- 🔥 Perfect for: Seafood lovers 🦞, coastal explorers 🏖️, history buffs 🏛️, small city fans 🏙️
Halifax is basically the most European spot you can fly to without crossing an ocean. This charming maritime city offers ridiculously fresh seafood, friendly locals who actually want to talk to you, and coastal vibes that make Maine look overpriced.
The bustling Halifax Waterfront boardwalk packs amazing restaurants, breweries and shops into a perfect strolling zone where street performers entertain for spare change. The Halifax Citadel sits on a hill overlooking everything, where guys in kilts fire the noon cannon daily (warning: it’s LOUD). Don’t miss the incredible Peggy’s Cove just 45 minutes away where that famous lighthouse on rocky shores will fill your Instagram with shots everyone will assume came from somewhere in Ireland.
Flights from Boston, New York, and Philadelphia often dip under $200 roundtrip in May, June, or early fall when the weather’s perfect and the crowds are low.
✈️ How I Fly for a Fraction of the Price (Even Business Class)
Airfare keeps climbing, but I almost never pay full price. Going.com emails me roundtrips to Europe for under $350. With Elite, you’ll even see business class to Europe for ~$1,700 (deals you won’t find on Google Flights).
Planning a big trip? Elite members save up to $2,000 on a single international business-class ticket. I’ve seen nonstop biz to Scotland for $1,250.
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👉 Try Going Elite free →- Read next: Jaw-Dropping Destinations in Nova Scotia
- You may also like: Cheap Places to Fly from Halifax
3. Quebec City, Quebec ($160–$300 roundtrip)
- ✈️ Flight Time from U.S.: 1.5-6 hours with direct flights from NYC, Boston, and Chicago
- 🛫 Best Airlines: Air Canada, Porter, United (best deals via Montreal connections)
- 💸 Why It’s Cheap: Winter tourism push 🏆, European alternative appeal 🗼, favorable exchange rates 💱, Montreal proximity ✈️
- 🔥 Perfect for: European vibes hunters 🏰, French culture lovers 🥖, history buffs 🏛️, winter carnival goers ❄️
Quebec City is Europe without the jet lag or euro prices. This walled city with cobblestone streets feels like you teleported to France but somehow your phone still works and your dollar goes 25% further.
The Old Quebec district is so ridiculously charming it belongs in a Disney movie. Narrow streets wind past 400-year-old stone buildings now housing chocolate shops, creperies, and boutiques selling stuff you definitely don’t need but will buy anyway. The massive Château Frontenac hotel towers over everything like a castle, and yes, it’s worth splurging on a drink at the bar just for those St. Lawrence River views.
Roundtrip flights dip as low as $160–$210 in February for Carnaval, or in May and October when crowds are gone but the weather still cooperates.
If you want Europe but only have a long weekend, this is the move.
- Read Next: Unique Airbnbs in Canada
4. Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island ($190–$340 roundtrip)
- ✈️ Flight Time from U.S.: 2-7 hours with connections through Toronto, Montreal or Halifax
- 🛫 Best Airlines: Air Canada, Porter, WestJet (best deals via multiple connections)
- 💸 Why It’s Cheap: Seasonal charter expansions 🏆, literary tourism 📚, maritime vacation packages 🌊, favorable exchange rates 💱
- 🔥 Perfect for: Anne of Green Gables fans 👒, seafood lovers 🦞, beach explorers 🏖️, red sand photographers 📸
Charlottetown is that adorable small-town Canadian escape you didn’t know you needed in your life. This charming island capital delivers stunning red sand beaches, seafood that was literally swimming hours ago, and those coastal vibes that’ll make your Instagram followers think you’ve discovered someplace exotic.
The entire Prince Edward Island is basically a coastal paradise that somehow stays under the radar. Those famous red cliffs and beaches at Cavendish look straight-up unreal in person, like someone cranked up the color saturation on your entire vacation. Don’t miss Cow’s Ice Cream (a Canadian institution) or the island brewery scene that’s exploded with small-batch spots using local ingredients in ways that put your typical craft beer to shame.
Summer is peak season for obvious reasons, but May and September slash prices while still delivering perfect weather minus the crowds and mosquitoes.
5. Toronto, Ontario ($120–$260 roundtrip)
- ✈️ Flight Time from U.S.: 1-4 hours with direct flights from major U.S. hubs
- 🛫 Best Airlines: Air Canada, United, Porter Airlines (best deals on regional flights from Northeast/Midwest)
- 💸 Why It’s Cheap: Close proximity 🗺️, high flight frequency ✈️, airline competition 🏆, favorable exchange rates 💱
- 🔥 Perfect for: Urban explorers 🏙️, food enthusiasts 🍽️, culture lovers 🎭, sports fans 🏀
Toronto delivers international city vibes without the international flight prices. Canada’s biggest urban playground is basically like if New York and Chicago had a cleaner, friendlier baby with better food and your dollar magically worth 25% more.
The CN Tower is cool and all, but the real Toronto magic happens in neighborhoods like Kensington Market where vintage shops sit next to Jamaican patty spots and Vietnamese sandwich joints, or West Queen West where local designers and artists create the city’s coolest vibes. The food scene is INSANE with over 140 different cultures represented, meaning you can literally eat your way around the world in a weekend.
Your wallet will thank you for visiting May through June or September through October when weather is perfect for exploring without winter parkas or summer humidity.
- Read Next: Cheap Flights from Toronto
6. Vancouver, British Columbia ($180–$350 roundtrip)
- ✈️ Flight Time from U.S.: 1-6 hours with direct flights from major western U.S. cities
- 🛫 Best Airlines: Alaska, Air Canada, WestJet (best deals often Tuesday-Wednesday)
- 💸 Why It’s Cheap: West Coast competition 🏆, Seattle proximity ✈️, favorable exchange rates 💱, shoulder season deals 🌲
- 🔥 Perfect for: Outdoor enthusiasts 🏔️, food lovers 🍜, nature photographers 📸, city/mountain combo seekers 🌆
Vancouver is one of those cities that feels like it shouldn’t be affordable, but it is. Surrounded by mountains, water, and more natural beauty than most entire countries, it’s a West Coast stunner that consistently drops flight deals from across the U.S.
Stanley Park puts Central Park to shame with its massive 1,000+ acres of waterfront trails where seaplanes buzz overhead and mountains create the most epic backdrop for your running selfies. When you need that nature fix, the Capilano Suspension Bridge lets you cross a gorge 230 feet above a raging river, or hit Grouse Mountain where you can ski with views of the entire city laid out below.
May and October are your golden ticket months when prices plummet but weather stays decent enough for exploring.
7. Thunder Bay, Ontario ($170–$320 roundtrip)
- ✈️ Flight Time from U.S.: 2–6 hours, always connecting (no nonstop US routes) via Toronto, Winnipeg, or Minneapolis
- 🛫 Best Airlines: Porter, Air Canada, WestJet (best deals often midweek via Toronto)
- 💸 Why It’s Cheap: Underrated regional airport 🏞️, domestic feeder traffic ✈️, strong U.S. dollar 💵, off-grid appeal 🧭
- 🔥 Perfect for: 🥾 Nature lovers, 🛶 paddling enthusiasts, ⛺ campers, 🌌 stargazers
Thunder Bay flies way under the radar, which is exactly what makes it such a win. It’s rugged, remote, and one of the cheapest ways to tap into Canada’s wilderness without a tour group or big price tag.
Sleeping Giant Provincial Park serves up hiking trails with views that make national parks look overrated. The massive formation towers 1,000 feet above Lake Superior, creating those perfect sunrise photos that’ll have your friends demanding to know where you found this place. Kakabeka Falls thunders over a 130-foot gorge with perfect viewing platforms, while the surprisingly cool food scene showcases Finnish influence you literally can’t find anywhere else in North America.
There are no direct flights from the US to Thunder Bay International Airport (YQT), so you’ll always connect, usually through Toronto or Winnipeg on Porter or Air Canada, or via Minneapolis if you’re coming from the US side. It’s a small, easy airport once you land, about 10 minutes from downtown. September is the sweet spot, pairing fall colors and decent weather with fares that often dip to $170–$230.
8. Montreal, Quebec ($140–$280 roundtrip)
- ✈️ Flight Time from U.S.: 1-5 hours with direct flights from most major East Coast and Midwest hubs
- 🛫 Best Airlines: Air Canada, Porter, American (best deals often Tuesday-Wednesday)
- 💸 Why It’s Cheap: Major tourism hub 🏆, intense airline competition ✈️, favorable exchange rates 💱, festival-driven deals 🎭
- 🔥 Perfect for: Food lovers 🍽️, festival hoppers 🎪, nightlife seekers 🍸, European vibes hunters 🇫🇷
Montreal delivers Paris-level charm without the transatlantic flight price or jet lag. This island city somehow packs European architecture, insane food, and next-level nightlife into a package that costs about half what you’d spend in Europe.
Old Montreal is that Instagram gold mine of cobblestone streets and gorgeous 17th-century buildings now housing killer coffee shops and boutiques. The city’s food scene is absolutely bonkers, from the iconic Schwartz’s Deli with smoked meat sandwiches that’ll ruin your hometown deli forever. Summer brings amazing festivals literally every weekend, while winter transforms into a snow-covered wonderland with underground passages connecting basically the entire downtown.
Flight-wise, lock in those sweet $140-$190 deals by flying in May or September. Porter Airlines is your best bet with their downtown airport landings and complimentary wine served in actual glasses.
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Global Viewpoint is a personal blog. All content is for informational and entertainment purposes only and does not constitute professional financial, medical, or legal advice.
