Is reading week the same as March Break?

No. Ontario's schools take March Break in March; most Ontario universities take their winter reading week in February, usually anchored around Family Day on the third Monday. Check the institution's academic calendar rather than assuming — dates vary by university, and many campuses now also run a fall reading week in October.

What does a ride from a Waterloo campus to Pearson cost?

A sedan is $242.08 all-in to the airport and $262.32 coming back from it, the difference being the $15.27 airport pickup fee that only applies in the arriving direction. An SUV seating up to six is $338.08 out and $359.20 back, which is why groups travelling together almost always book the larger vehicle.

Can my parents book and pay for the ride from another country?

Yes. Whoever books puts their own card and their own phone number on the booking, so the SMS confirmation and the reminder about four hours before pickup go to them. The student just needs to be at the pickup address. Cash to the chauffeur on the day works too if that is easier.

Four of us are flying out the same afternoon from different residences. Can one car collect us all?

Yes — add each address as an extra stop when you book and it is priced into the flat quote before you commit. Each additional stop carries a flat fee that varies by vehicle, and any extra distance the detour adds is priced into the same all-in number rather than settled afterwards.

Is there a student discount?

No. There are no discounts, promo codes or loyalty programmes here at all, which is worth knowing so you are not hunting for one. The saving available to students is structural rather than promotional: the fare is per car, so filling the car is what brings the per-person cost down.

Timing & travel time

How does reading week student airport travel work from Ontario campuses?

Answered by the Toronto Airport Limo team · Last reviewed July 6, 2026

Most Ontario universities take their winter reading week in February, commonly the week containing or following Family Day on the third Monday of the month — which means it is a different week from the March Break that empties the schools. Many campuses now also run a fall reading week in October. The trip itself is the awkward part: campuses sit well outside the GTA, so a sedan from the University of Waterloo to Pearson is $242.08 all-in and from Kingston $712.28, and the fare is per car rather than per seat, which is why four students in one SUV is the shape that actually works.

When reading week actually falls

The single most common planning mistake is assuming reading week and March Break are the same thing. They are not. Ontario's elementary and secondary schools break in March; most Ontario universities take their winter reading week in February, and the usual anchor is Family Day, the third Monday of the month. Some institutions run the week of Family Day, others the week after, and a handful sit elsewhere entirely — the academic calendar is the only reliable source.

That February placement is why the flights and the roads feel different from March Break. There are far fewer strollers and far more twenty-year-olds with one bag, the destinations skew toward sun and toward home cities rather than family resorts, and the departure peak is a Friday afternoon and Saturday morning rather than a Saturday dawn rush.

A growing number of Ontario universities also schedule a fall reading week in October, usually near Thanksgiving. If the student in question is flying home twice a term rather than once, that is why.

Winter reading week: February, commonly around Family Day (third Monday)
Not the same week as Ontario's March Break for schools
Many campuses also run a fall reading week in October
Departure peak: Friday afternoon and Saturday morning

Campus to Pearson, and what the distance really costs

Ontario's universities are mostly not in Toronto, and the drive is the part students underestimate. From Waterloo the run to Pearson is about 92 kilometres and roughly an hour in free-flowing conditions — call it 60 to 85 minutes with the 401 through Milton behaving normally. From London it is about 175 kilometres, from Kingston about 271, and those are two-and-a-half and four-hour propositions once you allow for reality.

The all-in sedan fares to Pearson reflect that honestly: Waterloo $242.08, London $458.76, Kingston $712.28, St. Catharines $279.14, Peterborough $390.02. Airport drop-offs carry no pickup fee, so the ride out is always the cheaper leg; coming back from Pearson the same trips are $262.32, $479.00, $732.52, $299.38 and $410.26.

In February those drive times are the ones most likely to stretch. The 401 west of Milton and the stretch of the 402 and 401 through the Woodstock and London snowbelt are the classic February problems, and a squall between Kitchener and Cambridge can add 40 minutes to a trip that the map insists takes an hour.

Waterloo → Pearson: about 92 km, roughly 60–85 minutes
Sedan to Pearson: Waterloo $242.08, St. Catharines $279.14, Peterborough $390.02
Sedan to Pearson: London $458.76, Kingston $712.28
From Pearson the same runs are $262.32, $299.38, $410.26, $479.00 and $732.52
February squalls on the 401 west are the usual delay

Splitting one car four ways

Because the fare is priced per vehicle rather than per person, the arithmetic changes completely once students travel together — and reading week is the one week of the year when four people from the same residence are flying out on the same afternoon.

An SUV from Waterloo to Pearson is $338.08 all-in and seats up to six; split four ways that is about $84.52 each for a private door-to-door ride with luggage handled. From London, an SUV at $640.69 divided among four comes to roughly $160.17 a head. Against a coach-plus-transfer route with a bag fee and a connection, that stops looking like a splurge and starts looking like arithmetic.

The mechanics are simple: one person books, one card pays, everyone settles up afterwards. Pickup can be a single residence address, or extra stops can be added for a flat fee per stop so the car collects people from two or three buildings on the way out of town.

Fares are per vehicle, not per seat — sharing changes everything
Waterloo SUV $338.08 to Pearson: about $84.52 each for four
London SUV $640.69 to Pearson: about $160.17 each for four
Extra stops for a flat fee per stop when the group is spread across residences
One booking, one card, settle up between yourselves

Why students book two one-ways

Round-trip travel for a reading week rarely survives contact with an actual student schedule. Return flights get moved, someone stays an extra two days, an interview appears. The clean approach is to book each direction as its own one-way ride when that leg's flight is confirmed, rather than committing to a return pickup time in January that nobody will honour.

There is no financial penalty for doing it that way — there is no round-trip discount here, and no discounts of any kind, so two one-ways cost exactly what two one-ways cost. What you gain is the freedom to change one leg without touching the other.

If a return is booked and then moves, the self-serve link in the confirmation email adjusts it up to 12 hours before pickup. And on the way back, put the flight number on the booking: the pickup then follows the actual landing, which is the difference between a car waiting for you and a car that left because a connection through Toronto ran 90 minutes late.

Book each leg as its own one-way, when that flight is confirmed
No round-trip discount exists — two one-ways cost the same either way
Change one leg from the emailed link up to 12 hours before pickup
Return pickups follow the real landing time via the flight number

A chauffeur opening the rear door of a luxury car on a city street

Price a campus run to Pearson

Get an upfront quote (416) 200-5070

Keep reading

Price a campus run to Pearson

Ready when you are.

Get an upfront quote in under a minute — or call and we’ll sort it out for you.

Get a quote (416) 200-5070

Pickup within 3 hours? Call us — we’ll arrange it right away.