Canada’s national carrier Air Canada will be expanding its services to The Bahamas and Jamaica come winter 2025, despite the government of that country maintaining a cautionary travel advisory for travel to both Caribbean destinations.

On Monday, May 5, Air Canada announced 13 new routes into Latin American and the Caribbean, including to Nassau, The Bahamas and Montego Bay, Jamaica. With over 55 daily flights and more than 80,000 seats weekly, the airline says the new routes are part of “its largest network expansion to Latin America to date with 16 per cent more seat capacity over last winter”.

The new routes for The Bahamas are Ottawa to Nassau and Halifax to Nassau, both beginning Friday, December 5, 2025. They have return services to their original airports. Flights to Jamaica are also from Ottawa and Halifax into Montego Bay, beginning Sunday, December 7 and Thursday, December 4, respectively.

“Our Latin America winter schedule has been built to serve both Canadian and global Sixth Freedom connecting travellers, as well as capitalise on growing cargo opportunities,” said Mark Galardo, executive vice-president and chief commercial officer, and president, Cargo at Air Canada.

“We are also very pleased to add new winter routes from Halifax, Quebec City, Ottawa and Vancouver, to the Bahamas, Jamaica, Martinique, Guadeloupe, and Mexico, and increase capacity to popular sun vacation destinations.”

The airlines will also increase flights on its services between Toronto and Nassau, with five additional weekly flights; Toronto to Montego Bay, with three additional weekly flights; and Montreal to Montego Bay with one additional weekly flight.

Travel advisory issued in April

The expansion of services to The Bahamas and Jamaica come amidst the Canadian Government issuing travel advisories to its citizens recommending they “exercise a high degree of caution…due to high rates of crime”

In The Bahamas, the Canadian authorities have warned travellers to be wary of petty crime, such as pickpocketing and bag snatching, in Nassau and Freeport. They are also cautioning travellers about the incidence of violent crime on the islands of New Providence and Grand Bahama, including armed robberies, burglaries, fraud, sexual assaults, and theft.

“The Bahamas has a high murder rate, but incidents mostly occur in downtown Nassau in non-tourist areas after dark. High incidences of violent crime occur in neighbourhoods outside of high tourist areas,” the advisory also stated.

The last advisory issued by Canada for The Bahamas was on April 30, 2025.

The advisory issued on April 29 for travellers to Jamaica noted, “Violent crime, including armed robbery and murder, is a problem in large cities and tourist areas, including parts of Kingston and Montego Bay, despite the presence of police to counter criminal activity. The availability of firearms is widespread, and most violent drug- and gang-related crimes, especially murder, involve firearms. There is a risk of becoming the victim of crossfire in these areas. Tourists are also at risk of crimes of opportunity, especially theft and robberies.”

The advisory also called on Canadians to be cautious of states of emergency, petty crime, and harassment of women and persons identifying as LGBTQI+.