^^^ i know people here in winnipeg that drive to florida instead of flying that have condos there...

A lot of Quebecers are driving to Florida. It's a little bit cheaper(especialy with the gas prices in the US). It takes 2 days (around 25 hours to Miami).

^ Yep, driving to Florida is pretty common here. I did it once myself (all the way to Key West in fact)

florida aint a far drive realy... try driving to central amarica and back

True, many people do that...
but I easily prefer flying: it takes about 2h50 to 3h20, AND you have a great chance of flying directly over NYC!

I already got a plan for this hehe! All the way to Argentina. (I plan to buy a car and then get rid of it once I'm there, and then come back on a flight)

Florida is twice as close to Montreal than Vancouver, yet people drive across the nation all the time!

can't be done theres a darean gap.... 40miles of swamp and jungle

I did it twice, 1 was all the way to Daytona and the last one was all the way to Key West(that 1 line highway in the middle of the Ocean is scary...)

I know that, I suppose there is a ferry between Panama and, let's say, Venezuela or any other south american country (except Colombia)

Someone asked - here it is for the top 6 (by total passengers).

Ranking by international passengers (excluding US):

Toronto 9633084
Montreal 4466400
Vancouver 4172255
Calgary 1196716
Edmonton 386563
Ottawa 343315

Ranking by total international passengers:

Toronto 18439124
Vancouver 8507698
Montreal 7535232
Calgary 3632169
Edmonton 1330474
Ottawa 1083684

I'd look in to that if I were you. I met some people in Panama City that had the same idea, but had to abandon their car in Panama. They couldn't find any way to ship their vehicle to Colombia without having to pay an insane amount of cash.

Panama is pretty much the end of the road if you're driving north to south in North America.

I'm sure there is a way, you just need to find it first. When my wife and I were all the way down in Ushuaia, Argentina we ran into a fellow from BC that had ridden his motorcycle down all the way. Now perhaps a bike is easier to get down there than a car, but the possibility definitely exists.

Alberta airports benefit primarily from isolation and a lack of surface competition (namely VIA rail) when compared to their eastern counterparts.

This is why you see an airline like Westjet flying relatively large capacity B737 aircraft on small routes between Calgary/Edmonton and Fort McMurray, Kamloops, Abbotsford, Comox, etc. The eastern equivalents of such routes are at BEST served using CRJ or Dash-8 aircraft, and are subject to stiff competition from VIA rail and even the good old bus/auto.

Oh, and whoever said Vancouver isn't the hub of the west ... that's just silliness. Calgary is a busy airport and the primary hub for Westjet, but Vancouver is Air Canada's second-largest hub operation and the unquestionable Western gateway to Canada.

Vancouver Hub > Calgary Hub. No contest.

^hub of the west not to the west.

Last I checked (and the table on the previous page supports this .. although I don't know its source), YVR's numbers exceeded YYC's numbers in terms of international pax, transborder pax, AND domestic pax.

That makes YVR the unquestionable hub OF the west and TO the west.

I would agree to that. Calgary is the hub of the prairies.

I am actually surprised Kelowna and Victoria are so high on the list. I guess they are both located in heavy tourist areas and are both the gateways to their local regions?

Airports in the province of Quebec generally post proportionately lower traffic numbers than those in the other provinces because Quebecers are much less likely to have family and friends (and also to some degree, business dealings) in another province than other Canadians are. VFRs (visiting friends and relatives in travel jargon) make up a significant proportion of the travelling public - enough to make a difference in tables such as these.

English-Canadians are spread out more across the country and tend to move between provinces a lot. Whereas the francophone population is concentrated in Quebec and neighbouring areas of New Brunswick and Ontario, an area which is reasonably driveable.

I live in Gatineau in southwestern Quebec and have friends, neighbours, acquaintances and family members from all over French-speaking Canada. Everyone here drives when travelling within the broad area from, say, Timmins to Moncton.

Again driving to florida :koko:

Hell vegas/nevada and L.A/cali are closer to Vancouver than florida is to montreal.

Is the recession that bad in the east?