Maple Express | November 14, 2026 — U.S. Ground Stop Cancels Hundreds of Flights at Toronto's Two Airports

1. U.S. ground stop cancels hundreds of flights at Toronto's two airports

Source: CP24

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration issued a nationwide ground stop shortly before 4 p.m. ET on Friday after communications problems at regional air traffic control centres, triggering mass cancellations at Toronto Pearson International Airport and Billy Bishop Airport. The order lasted several hours and was lifted around 8:15 p.m. ET, allowing planes to take off again. Pearson's website showed more than 120 U.S.-bound departures and arrivals were cancelled, and all flights to and from the United States were halted for a time.

Pearson spokesperson Erica Vella said another 20 international flights were cancelled because of the order, and warned of "some more delays" and "some cancellations" over the following hours. Air Canada cancelled all of its flights to and from the U.S. for the rest of the evening, saying flights between Canada and the Caribbean and South America that transit U.S. airspace were also affected. Porter Airlines cancelled all remaining Friday U.S.-bound and inbound flights. NAV Canada said it briefly implemented traffic management measures at Pearson and three other major airports, and that its systems were operating normally.

At the airport, travellers saw their plans fall apart. Donna, who was flying to New York City for the weekend, said her flight was rescheduled for Saturday. Derek, bound for Las Vegas, said Air Canada told him to "stick around" but he was not optimistic. Toronto-area couple Lyle Jakobsen and his wife boarded their flight home from Sint Maarten and sat on the tarmac for about an hour and 15 minutes before being deboarded, leaving them to spend one more night on the island.

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2. Carney asks ethics watchdog for conflict-of-interest screen over friendship with Telesat CEO

Source: CP24

Prime Minister Mark Carney asked federal Ethics Commissioner Konrad von Finckenstein on Friday to impose a conflict-of-interest screen between himself and a close friend who runs a company that does extensive work with the federal government. Carney has been friends with Dan Goldberg, president and CEO of Telesat, for nearly two decades, and Goldberg was among a select few invited to last year's swearing-in ceremonies. No formal screen had been in place.

"Out of an abundance of caution and to avoid any doubt in public perception considering the current public attention to Telesat, I have concluded that it would be prudent to establish additional screens," Carney wrote in the letter obtained by CTV News. He asked that the screens cover Goldberg, Telesat and its subsidiaries. The federal government awarded Telesat a $2.3-billion contract in August; Carney has said he was not involved in discussions about the contract or the decision to award it.

Conservative MP Jamil Jivani, who sent the original request for a review on Nov. 3, said Friday there are "many more questions for Carney to answer" and that Canadians "deserve to know why Carney made this decision AFTER Telesat got a massive government contract." The ethics commissioner's office declined to say whether an investigation has been launched, citing confidentiality. AI Minister Evan Solomon is also friends with Goldberg and is already subject to a screen covering Goldberg and Telesat.

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3. 'I can't get to work': riders speak out as Toronto's accessible taxi fleet shrinks

Source: CP24

Some Toronto residents with disabilities say reliable, wheelchair-accessible transportation is getting harder to find, affecting their ability to get to work, keep appointments and manage daily life. One of the city's largest taxi companies warns its accessible fleet is on track to shrink to just five vehicles by March 2027, down from about 200 in 2015-2016.

Jennifer Conroy, who lives in the Distillery District and uses a wheelchair, says accessible taxis often need to be booked about an hour in advance, sometimes longer. When a Wheel-Trans trip fell through and she was told another ride would take about two hours, she turned to Lyft, which arrived on short notice while the Beck taxi never showed. About two months ago, another missed Beck pickup left her "extraordinarily late" for a committee meeting. "People assume that we have all this extra time to wait around, and sometimes we don't," she said.

Beck Taxi's Kristine Hubbard told Newstalk 1010 on Thursday that drivers have retired or switched to standard vehicles. She said drivers invested about $75,000 in accessible vehicles after the city introduced licensing in 2014, while comparable vehicles now cost $100,000 to $130,000, paid solely by the driver. The city says it has provided more than $7.6 million in direct funding through its Accessibility Fund Program since 2020 and raised its one-time conversion grant from $25,000 to $55,000 in July 2026.

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4. UNESCO vote puts two Canadian geoparks on the global map

Source: CP24

Twelve years of work are paying off for Paul Wylezol, the western-Newfoundland man behind one of Canada's newest UNESCO Geoparks. His Cabox Geopark cleared a key step at UNESCO's Global Geoparks Council meeting in Paris on Nov. 4 and is set to receive final signoff from the body's executive board next spring, becoming the newest site in the country alongside five others already operating here. The Niagara Geopark is another new entrant due to get the UNESCO stamp at the same time.

"We like to say we're like plate tectonics," Wylezol said. "Slow, but with a lot of force." He said the dossier was a lot of work but rewarding, calling it "an opportunity to put this area on the international map." UNESCO reviewers noted the park holds clear evidence in support of plate tectonic theory, which research in the area helped confirm in the 1960s and '70s.

Perry Hartwick, chair of the Niagara Geopark, said the UNESCO designation is already drawing attention, with expressions of interest from virtually every museum in Niagara. He noted Niagara Falls is a worldwide destination but has one of the shortest average stays of any destination, well under a day, and hopes visitors will explore the Niagara Escarpment story — the geology that allowed the tender fruit and wine industry to flourish. UNESCO status is re-evaluated every four years.

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5. Investigation links bag-tag cases around the world; Toronto man sentenced to nearly 10 years in New Zealand

Source: CP24

Part four of W5's five-part investigation follows travellers who say they went from passenger to prisoner, caught in a scheme that crossed borders. The method is simple: a corrupt airport employee removes the tag from an unsuspecting passenger's luggage and attaches it to a suitcase filled with drugs, while an accomplice collects the drug bag at its destination. If the suitcase is intercepted, the innocent passenger is left explaining why their name is on a bag of drugs.

Two years ago, 30-year-old Calgarian Megan Maurer connected through Pearson on her way to Dusseldorf, Germany, where customs found two suitcases holding 24.5 kilograms of cannabis worth up to $170,000 — with tags bearing her name. At her Brampton, Ont., trial, her lawyer Jessica Zita used CTV News' earlier reporting to question the RCMP officers and CBSA agent involved; all three acknowledged that tag switching occurs at Pearson, describing it as a known and ongoing issue and "trend." Justice Robert Tomovski found her not guilty, citing reasonable doubt.

In New Zealand, Toronto's Tawheed-Ul Moyeen, who goes by Tommy, was arrested in late 2024. His red suitcase did not arrive in Auckland; instead authorities produced a blue suitcase bearing his tag and holding 23 kilograms of 80 per cent pure methamphetamine. Vancouver's Le Tan Pham checked an identical blue suitcase containing six white towels but collected the drug bag in Auckland. No evidence showed the two men knew each other. Pham was found guilty; Moyeen was sentenced to almost 10 years.

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6. Toronto police arrest 31-year-old in unprovoked, hate-motivated assault

Source: CP24

Toronto police have arrested a 31-year-old in connection with a hate-motivated and unprovoked assault in the city's west end. Police say the victim was walking her dog in the area of Lansdowne Avenue and Dupont Street on Tuesday when the suspect approached her, made anti-transgender remarks and assaulted her. Police also allege the suspect threatened to kill the victim. The victim was not physically injured.

Later that day, officers located and arrested Ellan Michelle Wood of Toronto. The 31-year-old has been charged with offence motivated by hatred—assault, offence motivated by hatred—uttering threats, failure to comply with a release order and breach of probation.

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7. Stabbing in Cabbagetown leaves man seriously injured

Source: CP24

A man has been seriously injured in a stabbing in downtown Toronto's Cabbagetown neighbourhood. Toronto police say they responded to Sackville and Spruce Streets after reports shortly before 5 p.m. Friday that a man had been stabbed during an altercation.

Officers found a man in his 30s with serious but non-life-threatening injuries and took him to hospital. The suspect fled on foot and police have not released a description. The circumstances surrounding the stabbing are not immediately clear.

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8. Crash involving police cruiser seriously injures one person; SIU invokes mandate

Source: CP24

Ontario's Special Investigations Unit is now overseeing the investigation of a crash involving a police cruiser during Friday evening rush hour in Bradford West Gwillimbury. South Simcoe Police say one person was injured in the collision, which happened around 5:20 p.m. at Line 8 and Summerlyn Trail.

Officers are on scene and the roads are closed while police investigate. Police are asking drivers to avoid the area and use alternate routes, and say there is no estimated time for reopening the roads.

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9. Canadian airports warn more delays after U.S. FAA lifts ground stop

Source: CP24

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration lifted a nationwide ground stop on Friday, allowing departures to resume after thousands of flights around the world were cancelled or suspended. Canada's major airlines confirmed flights to and from the U.S. were cancelled, and Air Canada said some flights to non-U.S. destinations such as the Caribbean and South America could also be affected.

Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon said Canada is ready to provide "full assistance" to the FAA as delays continued into the evening. It was only the second nationwide ground stop in the United States since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. NAV Canada said it implemented traffic management measures at Toronto Pearson, Montréal-Trudeau, Calgary and Vancouver to safely manage traffic volumes.

Pearson said international and domestic flights not requiring transit through U.S. airspace continued to operate and that staffing was increased to help affected passengers. NAV Canada said some delays may continue as operations return to normal and backlogs are cleared, and advised passengers to check their flight status with their airline.

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10. Saskatoon students spend hundreds of hours rebuilding a WWII battle in miniature

Source: CP24

At the Saskatoon Museum of Military Artifacts, a group of university students are dedicating hundreds of hours to putting a significant piece of Second World War history into perspective by building a miniature model of the Battle of Ortona. "It is a battle that a lot of people do not actually know about, so that is why we are making a model," said 20-year-old Linaya Taylor.

Canadians fought German forces in hand-to-hand combat in the Italian city during Christmas 1943; more than 500 Canadians were killed as they helped liberate Ortona. The model includes a bank and an apartment building built from wood, with individual rooms depicting Canadian and German combat using hand-painted plastic figurines, and streets filled with tanks and troops. Taylor spent hours researching the battle, the buildings and the soldiers. "I found a picture of a man who was being lifted onto a stretcher," she said. "He was an actual person who needed help."

Kevin Hicks, 71, a British war veteran and the museum's project manager, has worked with young volunteers for five years. He had a friend who fought at Ortona, and expanded a museum wall to make room for the model, including the "mouse holes" Canadians used to move between buildings. Last year students completed a Juno Beach replica of 3-D printed houses that took over 1,800 hours. Evelyne Clark, 20, is now building a Vimy Ridge tunnel model from Styrofoam. The group hopes to finish the Ortona and Vimy Ridge exhibits in the new year.

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