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Canada has long been a bit of an oddity in the Amex lounge network. We have plenty of premium American Express cards, a sizeable travel market, and some very busy international airports, but we still don’t have a single American Express Centurion Lounge. That won’t change anytime soon, but Amex has taken a different approach in Canada through co-brand lounge partnerships.
Amex and Aspire Pre-Flight Hospitality, the airport hospitality division of Swissport International, are expanding their Canadian partnership with two additional Aspire Amex Lounges;
- Calgary YYC gets a new lounge in the domestic terminal starting September 16, 2026
- Montréal YUL will get an Aspire Amex Lounge in the transborder departures area by early 2027.
That will give us three Aspire Amex Lounges in Canada, following the first location that opened in Montréal’s domestic departures area in September 2025.
New Aspire Amex Lounge at Calgary YYC and Montréal YUL
The newest Aspire Amex Lounge has opened today, September 16, 2026, in the domestic departures area. YYC already has Aspire lounges serving international and transborder passengers, including an Aspire Executive Lounge for international departures and the Aspire Executive Lounge and WestJet Garden in the transborder area. The new Aspire Amex Lounge expands that footprint into domestic departures.
Montréal gets a second Aspire Amex Lounge in the transborder area for passengers travelling to the United States by early 2027. The existing Aspire Amex Lounge serves passengers departing from the domestic area at YUL. So an eligible traveller flying YUL-YYZ or YUL-YVR could use the domestic Aspire Amex Lounge, while someone travelling to NYC or Miami, or another U.S. destination, would eventually have a dedicated Aspire Amex option after clearing U.S. preclearance.
Importantly, this isn’t the same as Montréal’s existing Aspire International Lounge. YUL will effectively have Aspire-operated options across different departure zones, with the Amex-branded concept expanding from domestic into transborder.
What will the new Aspire Amex Lounges offer?
If you have visited the domestic Aspire Amex Lounge in Montréal, the new locations should feel familiar. American Express and Aspire say the expanded concept will continue to combine buffet dining with tableside ordering. Eligible Amex Cardmembers will also receive priority lounge access and priority on the waitlist.
Aspire Amex Lounge YUL Domestic
One of the biggest problems with the explosion in credit-card lounge benefits over the last several years has been overcrowding. Rather than making these lounges completely exclusive to American Express, the Aspire Amex model keeps the lounge accessible more broadly while giving eligible Amex Cardmembers preferential access. I think it’s an interesting middle ground between a completely proprietary Centurion Lounge and simply giving cardholders membership in a third-party lounge program.
Which Canadian American Express cards get complimentary access?
At the existing Montréal domestic Aspire Amex Lounge, Aspire specifically lists the American Express Platinum Card, Business Platinum Card and Centurion Card issued in Canada as eligible for complimentary access. The lounge remains open to other travellers, but these eligible Amex Cardmembers receive complimentary admission.
Based on the information released so far, Amex describes the new benefit as applying to “eligible American Express Cardmembers,” but you should check the detailed card-by-card access rules for the new YYC and YUL locations as each lounge comes online.
American Express has already announced substantial changes to Canadian Platinum lounge benefits beginning January 1, 2027. Platinum Cardmembers who don’t meet the $20,000 annual spending threshold will receive six complimentary Priority Pass visits and six complimentary Plaza Premium visits per calendar year rather than unlimited access. Supplementary Platinum Cardmembers will receive two visits to each program. Cardmembers who meet the qualifying spend can unlock unlimited access.
But Amex explicitly says access to the other lounges within its Global Lounge Collection remains unlimited regardless of that spending requirement. Its Canadian Platinum benefits page separately identifies Swissport Executive Lounges in Calgary and Montréal as part of the lounge offering available to Canadian Platinum Cardmembers.
As Amex tightens unlimited access to some broad third-party networks such as Priority Pass and Plaza Premium, it is shifting toward more targeted lounge partnerships that give premium Cardmembers differentiated access.
Aspire lounge network in Canada continues to grow
Aspire itself is worth watching. The company operates more than 100 lounges globally, and its Canadian presence spans Calgary, Montréal, Ottawa, and Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport. And not every lounge follows the same model.
At Billy Bishop YTZ, Aspire operates the Aspire Air Canada Café. In Montréal, it operates the National Bank Lounge as well as its own International Lounge and the Aspire Amex Lounge. Calgary has Aspire facilities for international and transborder travellers, and now gets the new domestic Aspire Amex Lounge. Ottawa has an Aspire Executive Lounge as well.
Takeaway
Would I still like to see a proper Centurion Lounge in Canada? Absolutely. Toronto Pearson, in particular, seems like an obvious airport for one, and it remains strange that Canadian Platinum and Centurion Cardmembers can access Amex’s proprietary lounges worldwide but don’t have one at home.
But the Aspire partnership gives us a clearer idea of how American Express may be approaching the Canadian market instead. Rather than building expensive proprietary lounges from scratch at individual airports, Amex can work with an operator that already has a growing Canadian footprint. It can then layer Amex-specific benefits onto those lounges, like better dining, tableside service, priority access and preferential waitlisting.
By early 2027, an eligible Canadian Amex Cardmember could access an Aspire Amex Lounge when flying domestically from Calgary, domestically from Montréal, or transborder from Montréal.
No, they’re not Centurion Lounges. But the Aspire Amex brand is quickly becoming American Express’ answer to the Canadian lounge market. I wouldn’t be surprised if YYC and YUL aren’t the last airports where we see this partnership expand.
