March Break at Pearson: Early Departures, Family Luggage and Car Seats

When is March Break in Ontario, and why is Pearson so busy then?

The Ontario school year calendars page lists the mid-winter break for 2026-27 as 15 to 19 March, inclusive. Your own school board will confirm its calendar, so check it before you book flights. Québec's school break follows each school service centre's calendar, so the dates are not the same as Ontario's and are not listed here.

For a Toronto family, the practical result is a week when half the street leaves for the airport on the same morning. The departure peak is the Friday, Saturday and Sunday before the break, and the return peak is the weekend after it. For 2027, that means the outbound weekend of 12 to 14 March and the return weekend of 20 and 21 March.

This guide covers the Toronto side of that: how to reach Pearson with children and bags, how the curb works, and what to do when your flight leaves at six in the morning. When you are ready, you can get an instant fare for your address and see the fixed fare before you confirm.

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What is the trip to Pearson like with a family?

Pearson is about 27 km from Union Station, and the drive from downtown usually takes 30 to 50 minutes, depending on the hour. From other parts of the city and the suburbs the figure changes with the road you take, and the booker shows the distance for your exact address.

The highways around the airport carry commuter traffic on weekday mornings, and a March Break departure adds suitcases and strollers to the same lanes. A very early flight has an advantage here. A pickup before dawn usually runs on emptier roads, which is why many families book the earliest slot.

Winter is not over in March. Snow, freezing rain and wet roads are all possible. Ontario's 511 service shows road conditions, incidents and camera views, and your chauffeur checks it before heading to your door. If the weather turns, the pickup time can move earlier by agreement.

How do the Terminal 1 and Terminal 3 curbs work?

Pearson's passenger curbs are at Terminal 1 and Terminal 3. Your airline determines which one, and the booking confirmation or app will say.

The airport's pick-up and drop-off page describes the curb in clear terms. A stop outside Departures is for loading and unloading only. Waiting is not allowed at the curb or on the roads leading to either terminal, and the airport monitors idling vehicles around the clock. The curb also has a height limit of 4.5 metres.

What that means in practice: the car stops, the family and the bags come out, and the car leaves. There is no time for a long goodbye at the kerb, so do the last bag check and the last passport check in the car, before you arrive.

For the other direction, Pearson offers a free cell phone waiting area. You can wait up to 45 minutes, you must stay with the vehicle, and you drive to the arrivals curb when your passenger calls. That is for relatives collecting you, not for us; a chauffeur is tracking your flight and meets you as arranged. Our Pearson airport limo page covers the pickup in more detail.

What should you expect inside the terminal?

Pearson publishes a March Break page each year. The 2025 edition, March Break at Pearson, is a useful guide to what the airport tends to offer, though programming can change from year to year. It listed the following:

• A live wait times dashboard to check before leaving for the airport.
• Online parking registration, which helps guarantee a spot ahead of time, for families driving themselves.
• Sunflower lanyards available at the information desks in Terminals 1 and 3, for passengers with invisible disabilities who may need extra time or assistance.
• A family movie lounge in Terminal 1 Domestic Departures near Gate D20.
• Excess baggage storage in Terminal 1 Domestic Arrivals and at Terminal 3 check-in.

Treat that list as a guide. Check the airport's current pages before you travel, since the services offered in 2025 may not be the same in 2027.

How does security work with young children?

The Canadian Air Transport Security Authority publishes a page for families, and a little preparation saves a lot of time at the checkpoint. The key points from its families guidance:

• Check whether the Family and Accessible Line is available when you arrive at the checkpoint. Screening officers there give extra help to passengers who need more time or help with belongings.
• Infants under two can carry baby food, milk, liquid formula, water, juice and other baby items in carry-on baggage in amounts over 100 ml. Powdered items such as formula are capped at 350 ml in total. All baby food and drinks must be shown to the screening officer.
• Breast milk over 100 ml is permitted when it is presented to the screening officer for inspection before screening.
• Screening officers will need to inspect strollers, infant carriers and car seats.
• Let your child walk through the metal detector if they are able to, and do not hand your child to a screening officer while you go through.

None of that is our policy, and the rules can change, so read the page before you travel. The point for a March Break departure is that security with children takes longer than security for adults, and a car that gets you to the curb early gives you the time.

How much luggage does a family really have?

Many March Break flights go to warm destinations, so the bags are suitcases for beach and pool, plus winter coats for the Toronto end. Count what your family is bringing: checked bags, carry-ons, a stroller and car seats all take space.

Our fleet page shows each class. The SUV is the one most March Break families choose. If you are two households travelling together, the Sprinter handles all the bags in one trip, which means one pickup time and one curb stop.

Tell the booker how many large bags, how many carry-ons and whether there is a stroller or a golf bag. It is easier to size the vehicle correctly at booking than to discover at the door that the bags do not fit.

How do car seats work for a Pearson run?

If you are travelling with a baby, a toddler or a small child, ask for the right seat when you book. Child, toddler and booster seats are available when requested at booking. Please tell us each child's age so that the correct seat is ready and fitted before you load the bags. Our car seat limo page explains the process.

The weight and height rules for car seats and booster seats in Ontario are set out in provincial law, and Transport Canada's child car seat safety page is a good starting point for the national guidance. We do not repeat the thresholds here, because they are easy to misquote; ask us when you book and we will confirm the seat type.

One more point: if you plan to carry your own car seat into the terminal, security will inspect it, as CATSA notes. A seat that stays with the car saves a step at the checkpoint, so tell us if you would rather use ours at both ends.

How early should the pickup be?

This is the question every parent asks, and the honest answer is that it depends on the airline and the route. Airlines publish their own check-in and baggage cut-off times, and international flights usually need a longer lead than domestic ones. Look up the figure for your airline and add a buffer for children.

Some practical steps:

1. Check in online, and pay for bags in advance if your airline allows it.
2. Look at Pearson's live wait times dashboard the night before and again in the morning.
3. Set the pickup time from the bag-drop cut-off, not from the departure time.
4. Add time for a family: bathroom stops, a stroller, a child who needs a cuddle.

A 4 a.m. pickup is an ordinary request. We dispatch 24 hours a day, so an early flight does not need a special arrangement.

What happens on the return weekend?

The return is the part that surprises families. After a week away, you land tired, with children who may be asleep and bags that need to come off the carousel. The last weekend of the break is also when Pearson is busiest with arrivals.

With a chauffeur, the arrival is simple:

• We track the flight, so a delayed plane does not mean a missed pickup.
• You get 60 minutes of free waiting after landing on an international arrival and 30 minutes on a domestic arrival.
• A name-board meet-and-greet inside arrivals is available as an add-on, and families often take it after a long trip.
• The chauffeur helps with the bags and takes you home.

For an international arrival, plan for customs and baggage time before you reach the curb. The exact meeting spot is confirmed in your booking. See our meet and greet page for how the add-on works.

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What about other airports?

Pearson is not the only way out of Ontario. Families sometimes choose Billy Bishop on the island, Hamilton or Buffalo for specific flights. Each has its own pickup rules, distances and drive times, which are on the airport pages. For a comparison of all the Toronto-area airports, see airport limo Toronto.

If a Buffalo departure is on the table, you need valid travel documents, and the border wait is part of the trip. The Buffalo airport page gives the distance and drive time.

When is another way better?

A private car is not always the best answer. This is how the alternatives compare for a Pearson departure.

The UP Express is a good choice if you are starting downtown with a carry-on and no car seat. The UP Express website lists the trip from Pearson to downtown Toronto at 28 minutes, and its fares page lists children 12 and under as free. For a family with a stroller, two checked bags and a six o'clock departure, the train adds a transfer at each end.

If your trip starts or ends with a rail leg, our Toronto Union Station limo page covers it.

Where can you read about the other holidays?

Seasonal planning is covered across the site. See Christmas airport runs for December, Thanksgiving weekend family travel for October, and the events guide, attractions guide and blog for everything else.