Several members of Canada's Olympic team, including multi-medallist and closing ceremony flag-bearer Penny Oleksiak, have arrived back in Canada to a hero's welcome.

Oleksiak and several returning athletes got into Toronto's Pearson International Airport aboard two Air Canada aircraft before sunrise, with another group of athletes scheduled to arrive at around the same time early Wednesday.

When the flights arrived, airport firefighters saluted the returning athletes with giant arcs of water on either side of the airplanes.

Friends, family and fans mingled with media, waiting for the athletes to clear customs and pick up their luggage.

Soccer player Ashley Lawrence's parents donned Team Canada shirts to welcome their daughter. The pair said they are looking forward to figuring out where to display the midfielder's bronze medal.

Lawrence's teammate Jessie Fleming said she was proud of their performance.

"We all had a good tournament and we definitely deserved to bring this home," Fleming said, holding her medal.

Most of the buzz focused on 16-year-old Oleksiak, who won four swimming medals at the Rio Games, including Canada's first gold.

"I'm just really excited to be home right now," Oleksiak said, adding she looked forward to seeing her mother and her friends.

The Olympic medallist, whose performance this summer has made her a household name, said she's grateful for the support Canadians have shown her and other athletes.

"You know Canada has your back," she said.

Residents in Oleksiak's east-end Toronto neighbourhood known as The Beach are planning a celebration for her return, tentatively planned for Sunday.

Johanna Carlo, a board member of the Beach Village Business Improvement Area, says the group has applied for a permit to hold a big party for Oleksiak and other athletes who have lived in the neighbourhood.

Carlo says they're planning on having live music, and she's hoping people will bring home-made signs and wear red and white.

Teenage soccer fans Claire and Gillian Kilgour found out about the Olympic homecoming at midnight and got up at 4 a.m. to come to the airport with their father.

Three hours later, the 16-year-old twins were rewarded with an autograph from Kadeisha Buchanan, one of the bronze medal-winning women's soccer players.

The sisters stress they support the whole team, however.

"We don't have a favourite player," Gillian Kilgour said. "We like everybody."

At Montreal's Trudeau Airport, several of Canada's female medallists arrived home to a warm welcome. Many of them spoke proudly of the strong showing by Canadian women in Rio de Janeiro, including synchronized diving bronze medal winners Roseline Filion and Meaghan Benfeito. 

"It was really fun to watch all the girls do so well, but at the same time, we want everyone to do well. We were cheering for everyone," said Filion. "We wanted to get the most medals possible for Canada. Of course we're proud to be women, but we're proud to be part of the whole team."

That sentiment was echoed by team pursuit cycling bronze medalist Kirsti Lay, who also flew into Montreal.

"I think it's awesome and I think it shows young girls at home to stick in sports and that it's possible to be a leader on the world stage and just keeping plugging away, because sports takes you places," she said.