Air Canada’s Best New Restaurants reveals 2026 finalists and celebrates 25 years of Canada’s culinary excellence

Foodies, get your forks ready! The 2026 finalists for Air Canada’s Best New Restaurants have just been revealed, and it’s a culinary bucket list you’ll want to start exploring ASAP.

Canada has an incredible food scene, and Air Canada has celebrated burgeoning talent and defined what’s next in Canadian dining for an impressive 25 years.

Now, 30 exciting restaurants across the country have been shortlisted to vie for the Top 10 list, to be revealed later this year.

Here’s a look at the finalists. Consider this your ultimate excuse to start making restaurant reservations!

Meet the finalists

Antylia, Toronto (Air Canada) Johnny CK Lam

The finalists include heavy hitters like Antylia, Bar Eugenie, Liliana, N.L. Ginzburg, Radici Project, SAMMARCO, Seahorse, and Zia’s Place in Toronto; Angela Pastificio, Kavita, and Touk in Vancouver; Penny Crown and Sushi Jun in Calgary; and Rita Trattoria in Edmonton.

Together, these spots showcase just how incredible — and diverse — our country’s dining scene has become.

If you’re looking to dine out in your city or want to know where to eat while travelling, this list is a brilliant place to start.

And with 25 years of discoveries behind it, Air Canada’s Best New Restaurants has plenty of history worth exploring, too…

All the best restaurants in one searchable database

Capelin, St. Catharines (Air Canada) Johnny CK Lam

25 years means dozens of restaurants to explore, and now you can access a searchable guide to every finalist since 2002.

Allow your taste buds to travel through time by visiting some of the previous finalists, marvel at how far once-new restaurants have come, and take full advantage of the online directory by using it as a passport to culinary discovery.

And because 25 years is a pretty big deal, Air Canada is celebrating its past with a new class of Air Canada’s Best New Restaurants Icons. The new program will celebrate chefs who have helped shape Canada’s dining scene and continued to set the bar for culinary excellence. The inaugural class will be revealed in November, so stay tuned!

Supporting the next generation

3 Pierres 1 Feu, Montreal (Air Canada) Johnny CK Lam

As additional support, Air Canada is providing a $25,000 grant to the Culinary Brigades program offered by La Tablée des Chefs — bringing its total cumulative support to over $500,000.

La Tablée des Chefs teaches culinary skills to high school students across the country. It’s a fitting way for Air Canada to celebrate 25 years of supporting Canadian talent, while helping pave the way for the next 25.

Air Canada’s Best New Restaurants is more than an annual list. It’s a celebration of the people and the places cooking up what’s next in Canada’s dining scene, while giving Canadians plenty of delicious reasons to get out there and taste it for themselves.

Ready to dig in? Explore the full list of the 2026 finalists and use the Past Lists Directory to plan your next great meal or flavour-first trip across the country.