As 2026 begins, Canada’s two largest cargo gateways are locked in a quiet but significant competition. Toronto Pearson and Montréal–Trudeau are both expanding cold-chain infrastructure, both courting pharmaceutical shippers, and both positioning themselves as indispensable nodes in North American life-sciences logistics. Yet their strategies, and their bets on what the next wave of demand looks like, are notably different.
With biologics, vaccines and temperature-sensitive therapeutics moving in higher volumes and tighter time windows, the question for shippers and forwarders is no longer whether Canada will play a larger role, but which gateway will define it.
A surge shaped by biologics, not just volume
The growth story behind Canada’s cold-chain push is less about sheer tonnage and more about complexity. Advanced biologics, cell and gene therapies, and specialised injectables are increasing the value, and fragility, of shipments moving through North American air networks.
As US capacity tightens periodically and regulatory scrutiny intensifies, Canadian gateways are investing in infrastructure and certifications that support temperature-sensitive cargo. Toronto has expanded its cold-chain handling footprint at Pearson with an enlarged, CEIV-qualified pharma facility, while Montreal benefits from CEIV-certified cargo handlers, such as Swissport at Montréal–Trudeau, that underpin reliable, temperature-controlled handling for pharmaceutical shipments.
Toronto: Scale, automation and network
Toronto enters 2026 leaning into its natural advantage: scale. Toronto Pearson remains Canada’s largest air-cargo gateway, handling over 45 percent of the country’s air cargo activity and serving more international destinations than any other Canadian airport, according to the airport’s cargo services overview. Toronto Pearson
Toronto’s cargo ecosystem also supports temperature-sensitive freight through specialist airline and ground-handling offerings. Air Canada Cargo, which operates at Pearson, promotes its full-service temperature-sensitive and pharmaceutical shipping solutions, reflecting growing capability at the gateway to handle complex logistics flows. Pharmaceutical Technology
For large pharmaceutical manufacturers and global forwarders, that reliability, even at the cost of marginal speed, remains compelling.
Canada as a re-export corridor
What ties both strategies together is Canada’s growing role as a secondary gateway for US-bound pharma. Early 2026 routing patterns suggest forwarders are increasingly directing sensitive shipments through Canadian airports to mitigate congestion risk, diversify entry points and maintain compliance continuity.
This trend benefits both Toronto and Montreal, but in different ways. Toronto captures flows that require scale, network optionality and flexible rerouting. Montreal attracts shipments where speed and handling precision outweigh network breadth.
The competition, then, isn’t strictly zero-sum. Yet as investment accelerates, each airport is implicitly betting on which definition of “cold-chain excellence” will dominate.
Montreal: Speed, proximity and adjacency
Montreal’s approach is more surgical. Rather than competing head-on with Toronto’s volume, the city is doubling down on proximity to pharmaceutical manufacturing and time-critical handling.
Montréal–Trudeau handled around 150,000 tonnes of air cargo in the early-2020s, significantly less than Toronto Pearson, according to Canadian government transport data.
This difference in scale, however, does not determine cold-chain competitiveness on its own. For high-value biologics, cell and gene therapies and other temperature-sensitive products, proximity to manufacturing, handling precision and elapsed time often matter more than raw throughput.
Quebec’s life-sciences ecosystem gives Montreal a structural advantage in this context. The province represents one of Canada’s most concentrated pharmaceutical and biotechnology clusters, supported by manufacturing, research and export-oriented infrastructure, according to Invest Québec’s life-sciences industry overview.
Logistics managers describe Montreal’s advantage as less about throughput and more about elapsed minutes. Faster handoffs, shorter truck legs and closer integration with regional pharma producers form the backbone of the gateway’s 2026 cold-chain strategy.
Which gateway wins in 2026?
The answer depends on who’s asking. For global pharma manufacturers with diversified portfolios and high-volume distribution needs, Toronto’s scale remains difficult to match. For innovators shipping smaller batches of ultra-sensitive biologics, Montreal’s proximity and speed are increasingly attractive.
What’s clear is that Canada is moving decisively into the cold-chain spotlight. As 2026 commences, Toronto and Montreal aren’t just competing with each other, they’re collectively reshaping how pharma cargo moves across North America.
For shippers and forwarders, the smartest strategy may be recognising that in this race, the real advantage lies in having both options on the agenda.
The post Who will win Canada’s cold‑chain race? appeared first on Air Cargo Week.
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Author: Anastasiya Simsek
