Winter in the Prairies just got an escape hatch. WestJet has confirmed nine new nonstop international routes launching from December, and nearly all of them point south — toward Mexican beaches, Caribbean coastlines and one long-haul surprise in Brazil.
The headline addition comes from Calgary, WestJet's busiest base, where the airline will fly its Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner to São Paulo up to three times a week between December and January — around 27 round trips in total. Calgary also gains a weekly service to Mérida, Mexico, on the Yucatán Peninsula, running through early April on a 737-800.
Winnipeg travellers get two options: weekly 737 MAX 8 flights to Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic, and a weekly route to Belize City, both running from December into April. Québec City also picks up two routes, but they don't overlap — the airline will fly weekly to Roatán, Honduras, from December to early April, then rotate the same aircraft to Samaná in the Dominican Republic from spring until at least September.
Rounding out the list are three single-route cities. London, Ontario gets weekly flights to Montego Bay, Jamaica, from mid-December to early April. Regina links up with Los Cabos at the tip of Baja California from December to late March, and Saskatoon gains a weekly Mazatlán service over the same winter window. Almost everything flies on the 737 MAX 8 or 737-800, both seating 174 passengers.
For context on scale: WestJet is Canada's second-largest carrier, with roughly 14,700 departures scheduled this October — well ahead of Porter Airlines but behind Air Canada. Calgary alone accounts for nearly 4,900 of those flights.
The commercial logic is straightforward. WestJet's executive team framed the expansion as a way for Canadians to swap snow for sand without connecting through Toronto or Vancouver. That matters most for travellers in Winnipeg, Regina, Saskatoon, London and Québec City, who have historically had thin options for direct flights to sun destinations. If you live in any of these cities, a weekly nonstop to Puerto Plata or Mazatlán can save a full day of travel each way — no tight connections, no missed bags at a hub.
Timing is worth noting. Most routes are seasonal and bookended around the Canadian winter, with the São Paulo flights the one real outlier as a limited-run, long-haul experiment. Weekly frequencies mean seats are finite, so peak-season dates around Christmas and March break will likely fill early. And if you're eyeing Samaná, remember that route only starts after the Roatán season wraps in early April, running into the fall.
For snowbirds and winter-break travellers across the Prairies and beyond, this is one of the more useful network expansions WestJet has announced in years.
