The temperature is well below freezing this week, but in the heart of Toronto, Canada’s largest city and the fourth largest in North America, Antigua and Barbuda is doing what it does best: warming things up.
As part of a strategic winter marketing push, Antigua and Barbuda’s tourism branding is currently riding the rails on a Toronto Transit Commission streetcar traveling primarily along Dundas and Bathurst streets. These are two of the city’s busiest corridors, carrying a combined average of 51,000 passengers every day and seen by thousands more during their daily commutes. In the depths of a Canadian winter, it’s a rolling reminder of turquoise water, white sand, and island ease.
It’s the kind of placement that lands exactly where it should. While coats are zipped and hands are buried deep in pockets, a burst of Caribbean color moves through the city, offering a visual escape that feels both timely and tantalizing.
The streetcar activation is part of a broader fall and winter marketing strategy across Canada, designed to keep Antigua and Barbuda front and center during the season when travelers are dreaming most about getting away. That includes expanded presence in other key cities such as Halifax, Nova Scotia and Montreal, Quebec, using a mix of high-impact out-of-home and digital placements to build awareness and spark inspiration.
“This campaign reflects a strategic investment in the Canadian market, leveraging high-impact placements to strengthen year-round visibility for Antigua and Barbuda,” said Tameka Wharton, Director of Tourism, Canada. “By bringing a touch of our island warmth to Toronto’s winter streets, we’re keeping the destination top of mind and reminding Canadians that paradise is just a short, direct flight away.”
The streetcar is only one piece of the story. In December, Antigua and Barbuda also made a statement along the Gardiner Expressway, where a large digital billboard overlooking historic Exhibition Place invited Canadians to book a sunny escape. It’s one of the most heavily traveled routes in the city, and the message was clear: winter doesn’t have to feel like this.
At Sankofa Square, formerly known as Yonge-Dundas Square and often called the “Times Square of Canada,” the destination took over massive 20-foot LED screens. There, Antigua and Barbuda’s beaches and natural landscapes played out against one of the busiest public gathering spaces in the country, a place that draws thousands of visitors daily for events, performances, and shopping. In the middle of downtown Toronto, the Caribbean felt suddenly very close.
Together, the activations reflect a thoughtful, high-visibility approach to destination marketing, one that meets travelers where they are and when they’re most receptive. Canada remains an important market for Antigua and Barbuda, and these winter executions are about more than just impressions. They’re about planting the idea early, keeping the destination familiar, and making sure that when Canadians are ready to trade snow boots for sandals, Antigua and Barbuda is already on their minds.
For now, as Toronto braces against the cold, a streetcar glides by with a very different message. Sun is out there. Warm water is waiting. And winter, at least for a moment, doesn’t feel quite so long.
Caribbean Journal Staff
2026-01-22 00:08:00