Travel delays, frustration around flight cancellations, border restrictions, and lost baggage, all compounded by staff shortages, have done little to curb the enthusiasm of Canadian travelers.
A recent report by Statistics Canada shows that the number of trips made by Canadian residents—overseas and to the U.S.—grew seven-fold in June 2022 in comparison to June 2021.
Still, the number of trips made by Canadian residents fell short of pre-pandemic levels, hitting 2.6 million in June—that’s 59.9 per cent—compared with 4.3 million trips made in June 2019.
But data showed a dramatic increase in Canadian residents travelling overseas since last June.
In June 2022, the 571,700 residents who returned from visiting overseas (other than the U.S.), were up sharply from June 2021 (61,200), approaching nearly three-quarters (73.2%) of the pre-pandemic level, the highest level of recovery to date.
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MORE CANADIANS TRAVELLING TO THE U.S. IN 2022
While more Canadians travelled to the U.S. in June 2022 in comparison to last year, the number still fell well short compared to pre-pandemic levels.
In June 2022, 2 million Canadian residents travelled to the U.S.— compared to 3.5 million in June 2019.
By land: Nearly 1.5 million trips made to the U.S. in June 2022 were by land—over five times the numbers recorded in June 2021 (285,139), according to Statistics Canada. Over three-fifths (63.4%) were same-day trips.
In November last year, the U.S. lifted land border restrictions for Canada and Mexico for fully vaccinated travelers which may have led to a surge in the land border traffic between Canada and the U.S.
A more recent report showed that Canadians travelling to the U.S. by land rose to 1.8 million in July this year—roughly three-fifths of the nearly 3 million trips recorded for the same month in 2019, before the pandemic.
By air: In June this year, Canadian-resident trips by air to the U.S. also saw a surge from last June.
Canadians returning from the U.S. by air grew 17 times from last year and reached 448,500 in June 2022 from 25,300 in June 2021.
In comparison to pre-pandemic levels, air travel to the U.S. in June 2022 made up 70.2 per cent of the pre-pandemic level in June 2019.
INTERNATIONAL TRAVEL REMAINS MODEST IN COMPARISON TO PRE-PANDEMIC LEVELS
More international travellers entered Canada in the month of June in comparison to the same month last year but the number is yet to touch pre-pandemic levels.
In June 2022, the total number of international travellers grew by 406 per cent—close to 5.5 million people entered or returned to Canada than they did last year.
But despite this surge, the number lags behind the pre-pandemic level, which was close to 8. 9 million.
StatCan shows visitors from major markets rose sharply in June, with visitors from Europe growing more than twice—10,100 in June 2021 to 244,700 in June this year. However, traffic from Asia is recovering at a slower pace from 12,300 to 99,000 over the same period.
