Canadian travellers continue to avoid U.S.

Canadians are taking more trips to foreign countries, while cross-border travel with the U.S. remains down sharply since the U.S. launched its trade war earlier this year, according to the latest data from Statistics Canada.

The national statistical agency reported that preliminary data for July showed that the number of Canadians returning from the U.S. by car in the month was down 36.9% from the same month last year, which represented the seventh straight month of sharply lower cross-border traffic.

The number of Canadians returning from the U.S. by air was down 25.8% year-over-year, it noted.

Cross-border trips by U.S. residents were also down in July, although the number of arrivals by air edged higher, up 0.7% from the same month a year ago. Trips by car however were down 7.4% year-over-year.

Alongside the modest increase in U.S. arrivals by air, the total number of foreign visitors to Canada by air was up 3.1% in July, with non-U.S. arrivals up 5.6% from 2024, outpacing the number of U.S. visitors, Statistics Canada said. 

Canadians also took more trips overseas in July, with the number of Canadians returning by air from countries other than the U.S. rising by 5.9% year-over-year.

This was more than offset by the decline in trips to the U.S., so the total number of return trips from abroad by air dropped 5.3% from July 2024.

James Langton

James is a senior reporter for Advisor.ca and its sister publication, Investment Executive. He has been reporting on regulation, securities law, industry news and more since 1994.