Thanksgiving Weekend in Ontario and Québec: Family Visits Through Pearson and Union Station

When is Thanksgiving weekend, and is it a holiday in both provinces?

Ontario lists Thanksgiving Day among its nine public holidays in the Employment Standards Act guide. Québec's workplace agency lists it as a statutory holiday on the second Monday in October, in its list of statutory holidays. Both provinces share the same Monday, and the same travel patterns follow.

This is a guide to the movement around the dinner table: the aunt arriving at Pearson, the cousin on the afternoon train, the grandparents three hours up the 401. If you want a pre-arranged ride at either end, you can get an instant fare from the booker. It shows the exact fixed fare for your address and vehicle before you confirm.

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What does the weekend look like on the ground?

The weekend has a rhythm that repeats every year. Friday afternoon and evening are the departure peak: people leave work, drive to Pearson or Union Station, and head for the family house. Saturday and Sunday are quieter, with arrivals spread across the day. Monday afternoon and evening are the return peak, because the holiday ends that night and everyone is going home at once.

For a host, the useful consequence is that the two pinch points are the Friday arrival and the Monday departure. A relative who lands late on Friday needs a plan that does not depend on you leaving a half-finished dinner. A relative leaving on Monday evening needs time for traffic and for a busier airport or station than usual.

A booked car solves both. We track the flight on every airport pickup, and the meeting spot is confirmed in advance, so nobody is guessing at the curb.

How do Pearson's terminals and curbs work on a busy holiday?

Toronto Pearson uses Terminals 1 and 3. Your guest's airline determines which one, so check the ticket or the airline's app rather than guessing.

The airport's own pick-up and drop-off page sets out the curb rules, and they matter on a holiday:

• Curbs are for brief stops. You may stop briefly outside the Arrivals or Departures areas at either terminal for loading and offloading. Waiting is not allowed at the curb or on the roads leading to the terminals.
• Idling is monitored. The page says the curb is operating at limited capacity and idling vehicles are monitored around the clock.
• There is a height limit. Vehicles must be under 4.5 metres to access the Arrivals and Departures curbs at Terminals 1 and 3.
• A free cell phone waiting area exists. You can wait for up to 45 minutes at no charge while your passenger collects luggage. You must turn the vehicle off and stay with it, and you drive to the arrivals curb when your passenger calls.

That last rule is the practical one for a host. If your relative lands at 6 p.m. on the Friday of the long weekend, you do not park at the terminal and wait. You wait in the cell phone area, receive the call, and make a short stop at the curb.

For international arrivals, allow for customs and baggage. With a chauffeur, the free waiting time after landing is 60 minutes on an international arrival and 30 minutes on a domestic arrival, and flight tracking adjusts the pickup if the plane is late. A name-board meet-and-greet inside arrivals is available as an add-on, which many families use when a grandparent is flying in for the first time. Our Pearson airport limo page describes the pickup in detail.

How far is Pearson from Union Station, and how do you travel between them?

Many guests travel in two stages: they fly into Pearson, then take a train from Union Station to another city, or the reverse. Pearson to Union Station is about 27 km, and by road it usually takes 30 to 50 minutes, depending on the hour and the weather.

The UP Express train is the alternative. The UP Express website lists the trip from Pearson to downtown Toronto at 28 minutes, with stops at Pearson, Weston, Mount Dennis, Bloor and Union stations. Its fares page shows that children 12 and under ride free. For a single traveller with a carry-on bag and a connection at Union Station, the train is hard to beat. For a family with checked bags, a stroller and a long day, a car that goes from the arrivals curb to the Front Street entrance in one move is simpler.

Our Toronto Union Station limo page covers the other side of that trip. The airport limo Toronto page compares the other airports.

What is the drop-off at Union Station like?

Union Station is at 65 Front Street West. The Union Station site lists it as open daily from 5:30 a.m. to 12:45 a.m. The VIA Rail Toronto station page says the station sits between Bay and York Streets, across from the Royal York Hotel, and that the drop-off and pick-up zone is on Front Street in front of the main entrance. Taxis wait at cab stands in front of the station and on nearby streets.

A few details from the VIA page matter on a busy weekend:

• Assistance. Passengers who need help should report at least 30 minutes before departure in the Great Hall. Curbside assistance requests should be made at least 48 hours ahead.
• Luggage. VIA lists a baggage checkroom with daily hours of 7:30 to 19:45.
• Accessibility. The entrance, platform and train are wheelchair accessible, and courtesy wheelchairs are available to help with boarding.

Front Street is busy on a holiday Friday. Your chauffeur confirms the exact meeting spot with you in advance, and if Front Street is congested, a nearby side-street meeting point is the usual fallback. If the family includes someone with mobility needs, mention it at booking.

What runs on the holiday Monday?

Check the schedule before you plan a return. In 2026, the TTC listed Monday 12 October as a holiday service day, with bus and streetcar routes on Sunday schedules, starting at about 6 a.m., on its holiday service page. GO Transit's holiday schedules listed the same date as a Saturday schedule. Some GO routes do not run on weekends at all.

For a family returning to the suburbs, that can mean fewer trains than you expect and longer waits between them. If you are relying on a GO connection after a VIA train, confirm it first. A car is a sensible fallback, and our GTA limo guide covers the outer cities.

Which highway visits are common, and how long do they take?

For many families, Thanksgiving is a drive: Toronto to Ottawa, to Kingston, to Montréal. These are the figures that matter, from the tourism boards of each city.

Those figures come from Downtown Kingston, which gives Toronto at 260 km and 2.5 hours and Montréal at 290 km and 3 hours; from Ottawa Tourism; and from Tourisme Montréal, which describes around 5.5 hours of highway time on the 401 between downtown Toronto and downtown Montréal.

The 401 is the spine for all of these. At the Québec border it becomes Highway 20, as Tourisme Montréal notes. Our Toronto to Ottawa and Toronto to Montréal route pages cover the details, and our Ottawa limo and Montréal limo pages cover the other end.

Train or car for Ottawa and Montréal?

This is where honesty helps. VIA Rail's Corridor service runs from Union Station to Ottawa in about 4.5 to 5 hours, according to Ottawa Tourism, roughly the same as the drive. A train lets you read, work or watch the children without driving. A car lets you leave when you like, carry large dishes and bags, and stop for a child.

The honest comparison for a Thanksgiving weekend:

If you are weighing it, a single traveller on a weekday should take the train. A family of five with a pie and a suitcase each should consider the SUV. Tourisme Montréal also notes that ONroute picnic areas on the 401 close on Canadian Thanksgiving weekend, so plan your breaks around the indoor stops.

How do you handle the practical load of a family weekend?

Thanksgiving travel is full of awkward items. A casserole dish in a travel bag, an extra suitcase because the weekend is five days, a stroller, a walker, a car seat that you cannot leave behind. Luggage space is the planning constraint.

The SUV is the standard choice for a family of four to six. For a big gathering where several branches of the family travel together, the Sprinter has the room. See the fleet page for each class.

Ask for a child, toddler or booster seat at booking and it is fitted before the bags go in. If your relatives are flying in with an infant, tell us the age so the right seat is waiting at the curb.

Is there a fall-colour detour worth taking?

For some families, the long weekend includes a scenic drive. The Discover Muskoka site describes autumn as a season of colour and calm, links to a fall colour report and a list of events, and highlights Thanksgiving weekend activities. If your family gathers at a cottage, the route is the same one used in spring and summer, and we have written it up in the Victoria Day cottage run guide and the August long weekend guide.

The Thanksgiving Friday is the busiest of those three, because it combines a fall-colour weekend with a family holiday. Check 511 Ontario for cameras and road conditions before you leave.

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When is transit the better choice?

There is no shame in using transit. If you are one traveller with one bag arriving at Pearson and heading to a downtown address, the UP Express and a short walk or taxi ride is excellent. If you are staying at Union Station and taking a VIA train the next morning, there is no need for a car at all.

A private car earns its place when the group is larger, the luggage is bigger, the schedule is tight, an older relative needs a door-to-door trip, or the arrival is late. It also earns its place when the holiday timetable has thinned out and the alternative is a long wait.

For other holiday planning, browse the events guide, the attractions guide and the blog. If December is already on your mind, see Christmas airport runs from Toronto and New Year's Eve in Toronto.