Summer travel between Canada and the U.S. is in ‘steep decline’: StatCan

Passengers walk through the international arrivals doors at Pearson International Airport in Toronto, Wednesday, Nov.16, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS IMAGES/Richard Buchan

Travel between Canada and the United States has continued to fall this summer, new federal data shows.

Published Thursday, the latest figures count 1.66 million Canadian residents returning from travel to the U.S. in June, down 22 per cent for trips by air and 33 per cent for trips by automobile from the same time in 2024, in what Statistics Canada (StatCan) calls a “steep decline.”

The decrease stands in contrast to Canadian travel overseas, which has seen a seven per cent increase compared to June 2024.

And while incoming travellers by air totalled roughly the same number as last year, there was a 10 per cent drop in visitors crossing the U.S. border into Canada by car, marking the fifth consecutive month of declining traffic.

A separate report published by StatCan in June describes recent travel patterns as part of a broader trend.

“The abrupt and steep declines in Canadian residents returning from the United States at the start of 2025 suggest a notable change in travel patterns," it reads. “However, it is currently unclear whether the change is temporary or part of a more permanent shift.”

Since shortly after the 2024 U.S. presidential election, Canadian automobile travel to the United States has fallen precipitously, both for same-day excursions and overnight tourism.

In May, same-day return trips were down 40 per cent from 2024, a steeper decrease than those seen in the aftermath of the September 11th terror attacks (31 per cent) and the 2008 financial crisis (23 per cent). In the past 12 months, roughly 65 per cent of Canadian land returns were from same-day excursions.

The steepest declines were found at high-volume border crossings including in Niagara Falls, Ont. (45 per cent), Douglas, B.C. (53 per cent) and along British Columbia’s Pacific Highway (58 per cent).

StatCan notes that Canadian land travel, which makes up nearly 75 per cent of the transit to the United States, is often “more sensitive to changes in Canadian sentiment,” because it requires less planning and costs.

The United States is by far the most popular international travel destination for Canadian adults, accounting for roughly 26 million of the 38 million trips made outside the country in the 2023-24 fiscal year, Global Affairs Canada notes.