Lounge Review: The New Air Canada Café at YVR

YVR – Vancouver International Airport has finally gotten an Air Canada Café! It opened on November 5, 2025 and it is located near Gate C-46 and C-47 in a temporary location while the permanent space is under construction. In this post, we share some information and photos about the current Air Canada Café setup at the Vancouver International Airport.

Seating/Space:

The lounge is small, with about 52 seats in 2,142 square feet. It offers a variety of seating, primarily benches, bar-top stools, and chairs better suited for solo travelers. There are fewer formal chairs and tables than in other lounges. When the lounge is busy, solo travelers will be seated beside strangers, and some people end up just standing. It gets very busy at times!

Design:

The design is bright, thanks to the windows along one side of the lounge; shades are used when the sun is shining on that side of the terminal. The overall style reflects what is seen in some newer lounges: fake plants to add some greenery, light colors accented with darker ones, and some modern art with bright colors.

Amenities:

As mentioned in the introduction, this is a temporary lounge. There are no washroom facilities available within the lounge itself; these are accessed by exiting the lounge and walking less than one minute to the public washrooms just across the way. Most seats are equipped with a USB-C and power outlet for charging.

Food and Beverage:

The lounge has a similar concept to other Air Canada Cafés: a variety of pre-packaged food items to enjoy in the lounge or to take on your flight.

At breakfast, they offered a breakfast sandwich on a croissant, potatoes, fruit, overnight matcha oats, Lee’s Donuts, and more snack items like japchae noodles, cheese and crackers, and pesto chicken wraps.
At lunch, some of the items are swapped out, and they had a Korean chicken sandwich, dumplings, and spring rolls.

Overall, the food options were much better than the standard Maple Leaf Lounge fare, but while the donut looked good, it was a little hard from just sitting pre-packaged in a bag. As for beverages, the selection is impressive: hot coffee, nitro cold brew, mango kombucha, and more. For alcoholic drinks, they had two beers on tap from Gibson brewery Persephone, along with a cider and hard seltzer. There is no wine at this time.

Access to the Lounge:

Access to the lounge is limited to passengers flying on a domestic confirmed Air Canada flight in Business Class or Premium Rouge, and for select Aeroplan Elite Status members (Super Elite, 75K, 50K, and Star Alliance Gold). It’s also available to holders of certain Aeroplan credit cards, like the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Privilege Card.

Summary:

Overall, the temporary Air Canada Café at YVR – Vancouver International Airport is a nice addition to the airport’s lounge offerings! It will be interesting to see what the new permanent space is like when it opens. The food options are above average for the domestic lounges at the airport, but the lounge is limited in space and can get very crowded.

Have you been to the new Air Canada Cafe at YVR? If yes, what do you think? Did you like the food and drinks?