Travel between the U.S. and Canada down: StatCan

FILE: Vehicles enter Canada at the Rainbow Bridge border crossing in Niagara Falls, Ont., on Friday, Oct. 17, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

Canadian-resident return trips from the U.S. were down for nearly 30 per cent year-over-year in August, according to new data from Statistics Canada.

It marks the third time since 2006 that trips to Canada by U.S. residents outnumbered Canadian residents travelling to the U.S., excluding August 2025 and September 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Trips to Canada by U.S. residents also decreased for a seventh consecutive month, down 1.4 per cent year-over-year.

Arrivals by vehicle at points of entry were down 3.2 per cent compared to August 2024. Over half of these arrivals are from overnight trips at 54.5 per cent.

While new Statistics Canada data reveal a decline in travel between Canada and the U.S., the number of Canadian residents travelling home from overseas is up 9.2 per cent since August last year.

Europe and Asia are the dominant drivers of year-over-year growth in overseas-resident arrivals to Canada in August.

For the month of August, the United Kingdom, France and Germany were the top countries of residence for overseas-resident arrivals, up 34.2 per cent.