Review: Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge Toronto Transborder (YYZ)

For the last lounge visit during my whirlwind Aeroplan adventure, I visited the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge in the transborder area of Toronto Airport Terminal 1. I had just arrived from Frankfurt in Air Canada’s Boeing 777 business class, and after a six hour layover was connecting to Miami in Air Canada’s Boeing 787 business class.

I found the Maple Leaf Lounge to have a great selection of food and drinks and lots of natural light, though the lounge is also in need of a renovation.

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Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge Toronto location

Toronto Airport has a US Pre-Clearance facility, meaning that you clear immigration prior to boarding your US-bound flight. Fortunately the whole transit process was quite easy. Upon getting off my flight from Frankfurt, I followed the signage toward US departures. I then had to go through security and immigration (I could use Global Entry), and then I found myself in the transborder section of Terminal 1. I was in the transborder portion of the terminal within 20 minutes of arriving from Frankfurt.

Once in the terminal, I found it easy to find the Maple Leaf Lounge, as the signage was clear. The lounge is located on level three (above the main concourse level), and you can access those elevators from two different levels, depending on where you’re coming from.

Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge Toronto hours

The hours for the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge Toronto vary depending on flight schedules. You can expect that the lounge will be open prior to any US-bound Air Canada departure, from morning to night.

Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge Toronto entry requirements

Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounges are pretty typical Star Alliances lounges when it comes to access requirements:

• Star Alliance Gold members flying same day on a Star Alliance airline have access to the Maple Leaf Lounge, and can bring one guest
• Air Canada business class passengers flying same day have access to the Maple Leaf Lounge, and can’t bring any guests
• Those with an Air Canada Maple Leaf Club membership, as well as United Club members, have access to the Maple Leaf Lounge

There are some other niche ways to get into Maple Leaf Lounges, so you can find Air Canada’s full lounge access page here.

Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge Toronto seating & layout

The Maple Leaf Lounge in the transborder terminal is quite large, though also feels decidedly past its prime. When you enter the lounge, you can either turn left or right, and both sides are roughly the same size.

When you enter and walk to the left, you’ll find rows of seats facing one another.

At the far end of the left side of the lounge is the business center, with a bunch of cubicles and a printer.

There’s also a TV room on this side, with high-top seating and some reclining seats.

There’s also a limited amount of seating along the walls in this section.

When you enter the lounge and turn right, you’ll find seating that’s very similar to what’s available on the other side.

Deep into this part of the lounge there’s an area that’s much narrower, which has some more seats. This place generally seems to stay mostly quiet, as many people don’t venture this deep into the lounge. That’s where I ended up sitting.

I appreciate that there are huge windows throughout the lounge, which let in lots of natural light. In January that’s not necessarily all that inspiring, but I’m sure the weather is much cheerier in summer. The lounge also has views of the apron, though they’re a bit obstructed by the roof.

The lounge could definitely use a refresh, and it’s my understanding that this should be happening in the not too distant future. Not only was the decor a bit drab, but the lounge also lacks outlets, as most seats don’t have any.

It’s interesting to me that the lounge stayed roughly equally full throughout my stay. Usually airlines have banked departures and you’ll find that lounge crowding varies over several hours. However, the Maple Leaf Lounge stayed consistently busy. It wasn’t uncomfortably crowded, but it was also far from empty.

When I didn’t want anything else to eat or drink, I eventually ventured into the terminal and sat there. After all, there was a lot more personal space in some of the gate areas compared to the lounge.

Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge Toronto food & drinks

Compared to what you’ll otherwise find at most lounges in North America, the Maple Leaf Lounge had an impressive selection of food and drinks. Of course this pales in comparison to what’s available in the Air Canada Signature Suite, though that’s in the non-transborder international terminal.

The food selection included finger sandwiches, several types of salads, veggies, dips, soup, sliders, rice, and two main hot dishes (chilli chicken and Thai curry pasta).

Then there were cookies, brownies, and apples for dessert.

There were also two separate drink stations, with self serve beer, wine, liquor, soft drinks water, coffee, and tea.

Much like with the food, I thought the drink selection was pretty good, better than you’d find at most lounges in the United States.

Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge Toronto bathrooms

The Maple Leaf Lounge has one area with bathrooms. This area felt oddly updated compared to the rest of the lounge, and had Molton Brown amenities.

Unfortunately the transborder lounge doesn’t have any shower suites.

Bottom line

The Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge in the transborder area of Toronto Airport has lots of natural light, and a large selection of food and drinks. However, the decor and lack of readily available outlets leaves a bit to be desired. Hopefully this lounge eventually gets a refresh. In the meantime, it’s a perfectly pleasant place to kill some time before a US-bound flight, especially if you’re hungry and/or thirsty.

What’s your take on the Air Canada Maple Leaf Lounge Toronto?