diff --git a/artifacts/canaries/canary.yaml b/artifacts/canaries/canary.yaml
index 046b2369..383aac32 100644
--- a/artifacts/canaries/canary.yaml
+++ b/artifacts/canaries/canary.yaml
@@ -27,6 +27,10 @@ spec:
     # Istio virtual service host names (optional)
     hosts:
     - app.istio.weavedx.com
+    # Istio traffic policy (optional)
+    trafficPolicy:
+      loadBalancer:
+        simple: LEAST_CONN
     # HTTP match conditions (optional)
     match:
       - uri:
@@ -34,13 +38,8 @@ spec:
     # HTTP rewrite (optional)
     rewrite:
       uri: /
-    # Envoy timeout and retry policy (optional)
-    headers:
-      request:
-        add:
-          x-envoy-upstream-rq-timeout-ms: "15000"
-          x-envoy-max-retries: "10"
-          x-envoy-retry-on: "gateway-error,connect-failure,refused-stream"
+    # HTTP timeout (optional)
+    timeout: 30s
   # promote the canary without analysing it (default false)
   skipAnalysis: false
   canaryAnalysis:
@@ -54,7 +53,7 @@ spec:
     # canary increment step
     # percentage (0-100)
     stepWeight: 5
-    # Istio Prometheus checks
+    # Prometheus checks
     metrics:
     - name: request-success-rate
       # minimum req success rate (non 5xx responses)
diff --git a/pkg/apis/flagger/v1alpha3/types.go b/pkg/apis/flagger/v1alpha3/types.go
index e9eb9a49..f65e6577 100755
--- a/pkg/apis/flagger/v1alpha3/types.go
+++ b/pkg/apis/flagger/v1alpha3/types.go
@@ -115,17 +115,18 @@ type CanaryStatus struct {
 // CanaryService is used to create ClusterIP services
 // and Istio Virtual Service
 type CanaryService struct {
-	Port       int32                            `json:"port"`
-	PortName   string                           `json:"portName,omitempty"`
-	Match      []istiov1alpha3.HTTPMatchRequest `json:"match,omitempty"`
-	Rewrite    *istiov1alpha3.HTTPRewrite       `json:"rewrite,omitempty"`
-	Timeout    string                           `json:"timeout,omitempty"`
-	Retries    *istiov1alpha3.HTTPRetry         `json:"retries,omitempty"`
-	Headers    *istiov1alpha3.Headers           `json:"headers,omitempty"`
-	CorsPolicy *istiov1alpha3.CorsPolicy        `json:"corsPolicy,omitempty"`
-	//Istio
-	Gateways []string `json:"gateways,omitempty"`
-	Hosts    []string `json:"hosts,omitempty"`
+	Port     int32  `json:"port"`
+	PortName string `json:"portName,omitempty"`
+	Timeout  string `json:"timeout,omitempty"`
+	// Istio
+	Gateways      []string                         `json:"gateways,omitempty"`
+	Hosts         []string                         `json:"hosts,omitempty"`
+	TrafficPolicy *istiov1alpha3.TrafficPolicy     `json:"trafficPolicy,omitempty"`
+	Match         []istiov1alpha3.HTTPMatchRequest `json:"match,omitempty"`
+	Rewrite       *istiov1alpha3.HTTPRewrite       `json:"rewrite,omitempty"`
+	Retries       *istiov1alpha3.HTTPRetry         `json:"retries,omitempty"`
+	Headers       *istiov1alpha3.Headers           `json:"headers,omitempty"`
+	CorsPolicy    *istiov1alpha3.CorsPolicy        `json:"corsPolicy,omitempty"`
 	// App Mesh
 	MeshName string   `json:"meshName,omitempty"`
 	Backends []string `json:"backends,omitempty"`
diff --git a/pkg/apis/flagger/v1alpha3/zz_generated.deepcopy.go b/pkg/apis/flagger/v1alpha3/zz_generated.deepcopy.go
index dc710448..28c0243d 100644
--- a/pkg/apis/flagger/v1alpha3/zz_generated.deepcopy.go
+++ b/pkg/apis/flagger/v1alpha3/zz_generated.deepcopy.go
@@ -141,6 +141,21 @@ func (in *CanaryMetric) DeepCopy() *CanaryMetric {
 // DeepCopyInto is an autogenerated deepcopy function, copying the receiver, writing into out. in must be non-nil.
 func (in *CanaryService) DeepCopyInto(out *CanaryService) {
 	*out = *in
+	if in.Gateways != nil {
+		in, out := &in.Gateways, &out.Gateways
+		*out = make([]string, len(*in))
+		copy(*out, *in)
+	}
+	if in.Hosts != nil {
+		in, out := &in.Hosts, &out.Hosts
+		*out = make([]string, len(*in))
+		copy(*out, *in)
+	}
+	if in.TrafficPolicy != nil {
+		in, out := &in.TrafficPolicy, &out.TrafficPolicy
+		*out = new(istiov1alpha3.TrafficPolicy)
+		(*in).DeepCopyInto(*out)
+	}
 	if in.Match != nil {
 		in, out := &in.Match, &out.Match
 		*out = make([]istiov1alpha3.HTTPMatchRequest, len(*in))
@@ -168,16 +183,6 @@ func (in *CanaryService) DeepCopyInto(out *CanaryService) {
 		*out = new(istiov1alpha3.CorsPolicy)
 		(*in).DeepCopyInto(*out)
 	}
-	if in.Gateways != nil {
-		in, out := &in.Gateways, &out.Gateways
-		*out = make([]string, len(*in))
-		copy(*out, *in)
-	}
-	if in.Hosts != nil {
-		in, out := &in.Hosts, &out.Hosts
-		*out = make([]string, len(*in))
-		copy(*out, *in)
-	}
 	if in.Backends != nil {
 		in, out := &in.Backends, &out.Backends
 		*out = make([]string, len(*in))
diff --git a/pkg/router/istio.go b/pkg/router/istio.go
index ae52f666..7c12878a 100644
--- a/pkg/router/istio.go
+++ b/pkg/router/istio.go
@@ -48,7 +48,8 @@ func (ir *IstioRouter) Reconcile(canary *flaggerv1.Canary) error {
 
 func (ir *IstioRouter) reconcileDestinationRule(canary *flaggerv1.Canary, name string) error {
 	newSpec := istiov1alpha3.DestinationRuleSpec{
-		Host: name,
+		Host:          name,
+		TrafficPolicy: canary.Spec.Service.TrafficPolicy,
 	}
 
 	destinationRule, err := ir.istioClient.NetworkingV1alpha3().DestinationRules(canary.Namespace).Get(name, metav1.GetOptions{})