Carol - thank you for opening this thread back up. I am the original poster and would like to explain further. Poster "d_Fish" is correct that there are stories floating on the internet from 2021. I have been in the media for 25 years in Canada and have been following this story for a few days. I wanted to make sure that I had my facts straight before I posted on TTOL - a site that I respect and value very much. Here is the rebuttal I wrote to poster d_fish regarding my investigation and personal experience:

"Air Canada is suspending direct flights to St. Maarten after Jan 29th for at least a month. I have been following the info from 2021 circulating through the feeds for three days (mostly Caribbean news outlets) but my first post warning my fellow Canadian travelers to check their flight information is very valid. There are no direct flights on Air Canada (Toronto to SXM) from Jan 30th until at least Feb 26th and there are no guarantees the airline will start up then because they are monitoring the current situation. Our direct flight from Toronto to SXM on Feb 3rd for two weeks was cancelled without warning and they did not contact us. I had to do some checking on my own so hence the warning that I posted. The bottom line is - right now, we have to advocate for ourselves and be vigilant because airline schedules change every day due to Covid. And that is solid advice for every Caribbean destination."

I mentioned that this story has been floating on the web for a few days...I am following stories from Antigua, Jamaica and Bermuda. Something is going on but I will leave the details up to Air Canada on when they wish to go public. They did suspend flights to the Caribbean in 2021 and now in 2022, there are some suspensions again and I found out the hard way that I won't be going to SXM as planned on Feb 3rd because both of my direct flights were cancelled without warning nor was I informed.

Thank you to the helpful posters who pointed out that Canadians can fly through the US and get to SXM - much appreciated. When we share information on TTOL, we all benefit. My husband Gary and I sure have and I'm on this wonderful site almost daily. I've been going to St. Maarten since 1989 and like many, it is our destination of choice. We all try to help one another on TTOL and I was only trying to warn other Canadian Travelers that they might encounter the issues that hit my husband and I without warning.