‘Steep decline’ continues: Canada-U.S. travel data down again in August

Vehicles approach the United States border as seen at Saint Bernard de Lacolle, Que., on Monday, July 21, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christopher Katsarov

New preliminary data shows that trips between Canada and the United States are down once again in August, in what Statistics Canada notes is the seventh straight month of declining international travel.

Last month, 1.8 million U.S. residents entered Canada by automobile and just shy of 590,000 did so by air, down 4.5 and 3.6 per cent, respectively, from August 2024.

Canadian travellers, meanwhile, showed a “steep decline” in trips to the United States, with U.S. automobile travel down roughly 34 per cent and air travel down more than 25 per cent from 12 months prior.

In the StatCan data, trips by Canadian residents are counted upon their return to Canada.

August’s year-over-year decline is only the latest in months of decreases for Canada-U.S. travel, as U.S. President Donald Trump’s global trade war continues to strain relationships between the two countries.

Traffic began to falter earlier this year in the wake of Trump imposing sweeping tariffs on Canadian imports and ramping up immigration enforcement and detentions, all amid frequent suggestions that Canada become the 51st U.S. state.

In the time since, each passing month has brought new data showing the gap left by Canadians choosing not to cross into the United States, and in the month of July, U.S. border-crossers outnumbered Canadians -- a rare reversal from the norm.

Meanwhile, non-U.S. travel to and from Canada saw modest increases last month, with overseas visitors up 4.6 per cent and Canadian return trips from abroad up 6.6 per cent, compared to August 2024.

StatCan notes that, of the airports impacted by flight cancellations amid last month’s Air Canada flight-attendant strike, Toronto’s Pearson and Montreal’s Trudeau airports saw “the largest declines” in traffic.