Toronto Pearson Terminal 1 vs Terminal 3: Which Airlines Use Which

Which airlines use Toronto Pearson Terminal 1 and which use Terminal 3?

That one-paragraph answer covers most trips, and the table below expands it. The reason it matters is simple. Toronto Pearson, airport code YYZ, has two passenger terminals, Terminal 1 and Terminal 3. There is no Terminal 2 today: the old building was retired as Terminal 1 grew. If you arrive at the wrong building, correcting the mistake means going back to the landside train and, for departures, queuing for security again.

Two cautions about the lists in this article. First, the airport and the airlines revise terminal assignments from time to time. Second, we have not copied any airline's page; this is a planning guide drawn from widely published assignments and the airport's own descriptions, with the carriers that sit in a different terminal on different sources left out. When a booking confirmation names a terminal, that beats everything written here.

The airline table: where major carriers operate

Note two exceptions that trip people up. Royal Air Maroc is a Oneworld member but is listed at Terminal 1, so alliance logic is not a reliable shortcut. And several non-alliance airlines are shown in different terminals by different guides, which is why the last row says to check.

A useful rule of thumb: if your ticket is on Air Canada or a Star Alliance partner, think Terminal 1. If it is on SkyTeam, Oneworld or one of the leisure carriers, think Terminal 3. If it is a codeshare, which airline operates the plane matters more than the airline on your ticket, and the confirmation or the airline app will state the terminal.

How Terminal 1 and Terminal 3 are laid out

Terminal 1 is the larger building. Its departure concourses are organised by destination type: D for domestic flights, E for international, and F for transborder flights to the United States. The U.S. departures area on Concourse F contains the U.S. preclearance facilities and is sealed from the rest of the terminal.

Terminal 3 has three concourses. Concourse A handles transborder flights and contains its own U.S. preclearance area; Concourses B and C handle domestic and international departures and are connected airside.

Both terminals have arrivals on a separate level from departures, and the airport's own site, torontopearson.com, carries live arrivals and departures. Where your driver or your lift should wait depends on the arrivals door, not just the terminal, so a pickup arrangement needs both pieces of information. Our Pearson arrivals meeting points guide covers the arrivals level in each building.

U.S. preclearance: what changes depending on terminal

Flights to the United States work differently at Pearson from most airports. You clear U.S. Customs and Border Protection in Toronto, before you board, rather than when you land. The process takes place after Canadian security and in the sealed U.S. departures area of whichever terminal your airline uses.

Two practical consequences follow. If you depart for the United States, give yourself the extra time that preclearance needs; our guide to Pearson security wait times and how early to leave works through the numbers. And if you arrive from the United States on a precleared flight, you land as a domestic arrival, with no customs line, and walk straight out.

For arrivals from anywhere else, Canada Border Services Agency applies. The CBSA says passengers can use Advance Declaration in ArriveCAN before landing at participating airports, and use kiosks and eGates at major airports, which shortens the immigration hall. Read the CBSA travel pages before you fly if you are bringing goods that attract duty.

The Terminal Link train between the terminals

The free Terminal Link train connects Terminal 1, Terminal 3 and Viscount Station, where the Value Park lots are located. It operates before security, on the landside. Hours and frequency can change, so check the airport's own connections page on the day rather than relying on any figure repeated by third-party guides.

What the train does not do is connect the airside areas. Once you have passed security in Terminal 1, you cannot walk to a gate in Terminal 3. If you must change terminals on a connection, you leave the secure area, ride the train, and screen again. For a tight connection that matters a great deal.

The UP Express stops at Pearson's Terminal 1 station, so travellers arriving at Terminal 3 reach it with the Terminal Link. Its operator advertises Pearson to downtown in 28 minutes, and you can confirm current fares on the UP Express fares page. For the trip to Union Station by car instead, the page for Pearson to Union Station gives the route and the drive time.

Which terminal should your driver go to?

If someone is collecting you, there are two details they need: the terminal and the arrivals door. Everything else follows.

• Give the airline and flight number. A tracked flight gives the terminal reliably, and it updates if the airline changes the arrival gate.
• State the terminal in the booking notes anyway. It is a quick check against any mismatch.
• Say how many people and bags. The driver chooses where to wait on the arrivals level based on the vehicle.
• If you are on a codeshare, say which airline operates the flight. This is the mistake behind most terminal mix-ups.

Every airport pickup is flight-tracked, so a gate change reaches the driver before it reaches you. If you prefer a person to a pin on a map, a name board in arrivals is available on request, with an alias on it if you want privacy. The Toronto Pearson airport transfers page lists the arrival points for both terminals.

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Departing: getting to the right door on time

For departures, the drop-off level at each terminal is the same building as the check-in hall. Roads loop around both terminals, and the kerb gets busy at the usual morning and evening peaks.

Three habits avoid the most frequent departure errors.

1. Look at the terminal the night before. Your airline app or boarding pass confirms it. Do not rely on memory from your last trip with the same airline, because assignments change. Air Canada's Toronto check-in guidance is one place to read the airline's own timing advice.
2. Allow for the other terminal if you are unsure. If you land at the wrong building, the Terminal Link train is the repair, and you should add 20 to 30 minutes for it.
3. Ask the driver to drop you at your airline's door. Your chauffeur knows which stretch of kerb is nearest your airline's counters, which saves a long walk with bags.

Our service page for airport limos from Mississauga covers pickup arrangements for the airport's closest neighbour, and the airport limo hub covers the rest of the GTA.

Connections: when you change terminals mid-journey

A connection that crosses terminals is the situation that does most damage to a schedule. Say you arrive on Air Canada from Europe at Terminal 1 and continue to the Caribbean on a WestJet flight from Terminal 3. You clear Canadian arrivals, collect your bag if the tickets are separate, ride the Terminal Link train, check in again and pass security a second time. Even on a good day that is a long list of steps.

Where tickets are on separate bookings, the airline is not responsible for the gap, so leave a generous margin or choose to book the flights on a single reservation. A day-long stopover, with a night in the city, solves the problem outright; our Pearson layover guide shows what to do with the hours.

Parking, FBO and other ways in

Several other facilities sit outside the two main terminals.

• Value Park lots on Viscount Road use the Terminal Link train to reach both terminals.
• Private aviation travellers use a separate terminal on the airfield. See our page on Toronto Pearson FBO transfers if you are flying privately.

If you are driving yourself, our comparison of Pearson parking against a car service puts the lot choices alongside the cost of a booked car.

A short checklist for the day of travel

• Open your booking and note the terminal and the check-in cut-off time.
• Check the carrier on codeshares. The operating airline decides the terminal.
• Plan to arrive earlier for U.S. flights because of preclearance.
• Keep your driver's meeting point in your phone, with the arrivals level.
• If you must change terminals, use the train, then screen again.

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