Return flights to Ottawa from non-U.S. destinations on the rise as U.S. returns decline

A airplane is pictured at a gate at Ottawa International Airport in Ottawa on Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2024.

New data from Statistics Canada show a major increase in return flights to Ottawa from destinations other than the United States this summer, and a concurrent drop in return flights from the U.S.

According to the report, there were 9,173 Canadian travellers who returned to Canada via the Ottawa International Airport from non-U.S. destinations last month, a 70 per cent year-over-year increase compared with July 2024. Conversely, there was a 15 per cent drop in the number of Canadians returning to Ottawa from the U.S. in July 2025 compared with July 2024.

Similar trends were seen in May and June, with the number of Canadians returning from non-U.S. destinations higher year-over-year, and the number of Canadians returning from U.S. destinations lower compared to the year prior.

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The Ottawa Airport Authority said last week there were 406,786 transborder passengers departing and arriving from the U.S. between January and June of this year, up from a total of 379,984 passenger trips during the first six months of last year, a seven per cent increase.

Statistics Canada data only account for trips from the U.S. into Canada, but the figures show a 3.6 per cent year-over-year increase in Canadians returning from the U.S. in the first six months of the year. Year-over-year increases were seen in January, February, and March, while return trips declined year-over-year in April, May, and June.

According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the number of flights into the U.S. across its northern border with Canada rose 4.7 in the first six months of 2025 compared to the same time last year.

Return trips by land nearly cut in half in 2025

The number of Canadians returning to Canada over the land border continues its steady decline this year, with figures showing a nearly 50 per cent drop in return trips at the three U.S.-Canada border crossings in eastern Ontario.

Statistics Canada figures show a 34.7 per cent decrease in Canadian travellers returning by land at the border crossings at Cornwall, Lansdowne, and Prescott in July 2025 compared with July 2024.

Between Jan. 1 and July 31, 2025, the number of Canadians returning from the U.S. at those three border crossings was down 47.6 per cent. Statistics Canada show 1,283,339 Canadians returned from the U.S. in the first seven months of 2024 compared with 672,950 in 2025.

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Nationwide, Statistics Canada says the number of Canadian-resident return trips by automobile from the United States dropped 36.9 per cent in July, the seventh straight month of declines.

Statistics about the number of Canadians crossing into the U.S. comes from U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and figures for July are not yet available.

Many Canadians have been boycotting travel to the U.S. over U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats of annexing Canada as the “51st state” and his regular economic threats, as well as over broader concerns about potentially being detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).