Despite what Sabrina at the National Post seems to think, flying within Canada has actually become significantly cheaper over the last few years.

It was not that long ago you would easily be paying a minimum of $500 roundtrip after taxes to fly from Ontario to Western Canada or vice versa. Those same routes are now routinely in the ballpark of $250 roundtrip.

Back then you had two choices, WestJet or Air Canada. Then Air Transat started flying certain domestic routes, which helped with prices between major cities, such as Toronto to Calgary/Vancouver. Then Flair entered the mix, starting with cheap flights from smaller Canadian airports, and gradually worked their way into the larger airports.

WestJet responded to this new upstart named Flair by creating Swoop to compete in the low cost carrier space.

And then there's Porter, who has been biding their time in Eastern Canada, but now appears poised to finally expand across Canada next year with their 80 new aircraft.

Not to mention Lynx Air (formerly Enerjet) who plans to fly between major Canadian cities starting in April 2022 using the low cost carrier model.

Yes, many routes within Canada are still dominated by 1 or 2 airlines, keeping prices high on those routes. Anywhere with less than 200,000 people is still going to have expensive domestic flights and limited choices.

But I think to say that Canada's domestic market has a real lack of competition is no longer true like it once was.

WestJet, Air Canada vs Flair, Swoop, Lynx

When it comes to comparing prices between WestJet / Air Canada versus Flair / Swoop, if you have intention of bringing *any* luggage (checked OR carry-on), you should probably add about $100-$120 to Flair and Swoop's roundtrip prices, to give you a fair comparison.

Flair and Swoop's base prices will buy you just a seat on the plane, so don't be fooled by the first price you see on search engines. They're not telling you the whole story.

As a general rule, somewhere around $250 CAD roundtrip including taxes and fees has been the rock bottom price you'll find for non-stop flights between Ontario and B.C./Alberta with WestJet or Air Canada. (Update: Currently available in the neighbourhood of $150 roundtrip or less!)

And with Flair or Swoop, the bottom price will be around $100-$125 CAD roundtrip *before* adding any luggage, and not by coincidence, around $220-$250 CAD roundtrip with checked luggage or carry-on.

So at the end of the day, if your grand total price is in the ballpark of $250 CAD roundtrip per passenger, you're doing very well. It's still a lot better than the $500-$600 roundtrip that Canadians have traditionally paid for summer travel within our own country over the years.

Are there any requirements such as a negative covid test result for flying within Canada?

There have never been any special requirements, such as having a covid test result or quarantine, when flying between any combination of Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia, or Alberta.

Flying between these 4 provinces is essentially identical to pre-pandemic times, and always has been.

Exploring for cheap flights

If you click on the links below, it will take you to an example Google Flights search you can start with.

When you get to Google Flights, you can click on the departure date box to open the calendar view and browse for the cheapest dates to fly.

If you open the calendar view on Google Flights you can adjust the trip length at the bottom.

British Columbia - Vancouver (YVR) or Abbotsford (YXX)

Abbotsford is east of Vancouver, and about a 45-60 minute drive into downtown Vancouver (depending on how bad traffic is).

Toronto to Vancouver

$165 roundtrip on WestJet, Air Canada, Air Transat (March to June, September, October)

Toronto to Vancouver

$139 roundtrip on Flair (March to November)

Toronto to Vancouver

$162 roundtrip on Lynx Air (April to October)

Kitchener-Waterloo to Vancouver

$108 roundtrip on Flair (March to October)

Toronto to Abbotsford

$112 roundtrip on Flair, Swoop (March to October)

Hamilton to Abbotsford

$110 roundtrip on Swoop (May to October)

British Columbia - Victoria (YYJ)

Toronto to Victoria

$119 roundtrip on Flair, Swoop (September, October)

Toronto to Victoria

$216 roundtrip on Air Canada, WestJet (June)

Kitchener-Waterloo to Victoria

not available

British Columbia - Kelowna (YLW) & Penticton (YYF)

Toronto to Kelowna

on Air Canada, WestJet (not currently cheap)

Toronto to Kelowna

$176 roundtrip on Flair, Swoop (May to October)

Kitchener-Waterloo to Kelowna

$118 roundtrip on Flair (May to October)

Toronto to Penticton

$235 roundtrip on Air Canada (not currently cheap), 1 stop

Alberta - Calgary (YYC) / Banff

Toronto to Calgary

$118 roundtrip on Air Canada, WestJet, Air Transat (March to June, and September, October)

Toronto to Calgary

$97 roundtrip on Flair (April to June, September, October)

Toronto to Calgary

$131 roundtrip on Lynx Air (April to October)

Kitchener-Waterloo to Calgary

$101 roundtrip on WestJet (September, October)

Kitchener-Waterloo to Calgary

$88 roundtrip on Flair (September, October)

Hamilton to Calgary

$228 roundtrip on WestJet (April to June, September, October)

Alberta - Edmonton (YEG) / Jasper

Toronto to Edmonton

$138 roundtrip on Air Canada, WestJet (March to June, September, October)

Toronto to Edmonton

$118 roundtrip on Flair, Swoop (March to October)

Kitchener-Waterloo to Edmonton

$85 roundtrip on Flair (not currently cheap)

Hamilton to Edmonton

$118 roundtrip on Swoop (March to October)

London to Edmonton

$98 roundtrip on Swoop (June to October)

Prince Edward Island - Charlottetown (YYG)

Toronto to Charlottetown

$115 roundtrip on Air Canada, WestJet (late April, May, September, October)

Toronto to Charlottetown

$96 roundtrip on Flair (March to October)

Nova Scotia - Halifax (YHZ)

Kitchener-Waterloo to Halifax

$86 roundtrip on Flair (September, October)

Hamilton to Halifax

$116 roundtrip on Swoop (March to June, and September, October)

Newfoundland - Deer Lake (YDF)

Kitchener to Deer Lake

$96-$116 roundtrip on Flair (late August, September, October)

Ontario - Thunder Bay (YQT)

Toronto to Thunder Bay

$102 roundtrip on Air Canada, WestJet (April to June, September, October)

Toronto to Thunder Bay

$86 roundtrip on Flair (March to October)

Manitoba - Winnipeg (YWG)

Toronto to Winnipeg

$102 roundtrip on Air Canada, WestJet (June, September, October)

Toronto to Winnipeg

$138 roundtrip on Flair, Swoop (March to October)

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