July 2, 2026
General TravelWinnipeg Named the Best Airport in Canada in AirHelp's 2026 Rankings
I have a bit of a soft spot for this one. I am from Winnipeg and I fly through YWG all the time, so seeing it named the best airport in the country made me weirdly proud. It is a medium sized airport, no question, and a lot quieter than what you get in Toronto or Montreal. But every time I walk through it, the place feels bright, modern, and refreshingly easy to get through. Turns out it is not just hometown bias talking.
According to AirHelp's 2026 rankings, Winnipeg Richardson International Airport (YWG) is officially the best airport in Canada, landing the number one spot nationally and quietly beating out every bigger, busier hub in the process.
Winnipeg earned an overall AirHelp score of 7.47 and placed 165th globally, the highest of any Canadian airport this year.
Header image sourced from Winnipeg Richardson International Airport's website.
How the Ranking Works
AirHelp is a UK based air passenger rights company, the kind that helps flyers claim compensation when things go sideways. Every year it scores airports around the world, and this time it looked at 279 airports across 76 countries.
Each airport gets rated on three things: on time performance, the overall passenger experience, and facilities and comfort. The scores come from a mix of flight data and feedback collected directly from travellers, then rolled up into a single overall score out of 10.
The Canadian Top Three
Here is how the Canadian podium shook out:
- Winnipeg (YWG): first place with an overall score of 7.47, made up of 7.3 for on time performance, a strong 8.3 for passenger experience, and 7.2 for facilities and comfort. It ranked 165th globally.
- Edmonton (YEG): second place, also at 7.47 overall, though its category scores were a little different at 7.6 for on time, 7.5 for experience, and 6.9 for facilities. It sat one spot back globally at 166th.
- Calgary (YYC): third place with a 7.45 overall and the highest experience score of the three at 8.4. It placed 171st worldwide.
The three are separated by the thinnest of margins, which tells you just how close the race for best in Canada really was this year.
The Big Airports That Missed Out
The interesting part is who did not make the list. Canada's two biggest and busiest airports both sat it out. Vancouver International came in at 230th globally, and Toronto Pearson landed all the way down at 263rd.
In other words, the smaller and midsize airports are the ones winning on the passenger experience side, which will surprise absolutely no one who has sprinted through a Pearson connection lately.
So What Is Winnipeg Doing Right?
Source: Winnipeg Richardson International Airport
A lot of it comes down to being easy. Shorter security lines, quicker check ins, and staff that travellers keep describing as friendly and helpful. When your airport handles around 4.3 million passengers a year, roughly 11,800 a day, you have the room to keep things moving without the crush you feel at the mega hubs.
There is also one lovely little detail that probably nudged that experience score upward. Back in 2013, YWG installed a Hug Rug near the base of the arrivals elevator. It started as a spot for special occasions and turned into a permanent fixture, a small marked place where families and friends can reunite. It is a tiny touch, but it says a lot about the kind of airport Winnipeg is trying to be.
The Bottom Line
For the record, the top airport in the world this year was Panama City's Tocumen International. Canada did not crack the global top tier, but there is something worth celebrating in the fact that a modest prairie airport, not a coastal giant, is the one Canadians can point to with pride.
The next time your travel plans give you a choice of connection, it might be worth remembering that bigger does not always mean better.
