Elbows down? Canadian Travel to U.S. increases for first time in 15 months

By

Annie Bergeron-Oliver

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Published: June 23, 2026 

Canada and U.S. flags fly in the wind at the Douglas-Peace Arch border crossing, in Surrey, B.C., on Monday, March 16, 2020. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck)

Nearly a year and a half after Canadians first started shunning U.S. travel, new data shows trips south of the border are increasing.

Data released by Statistics Canada Tuesday shows that in April the number of Canadian-resident return trips from the United States increased by 1.8 per cent year-over-year, the first increase since January 2025.

The increase was largely driven by more trips by car, up 8.1 per cent to 1.5 million, of which 65 per cent were same-day trips. Return trips by air decreased by 7.1 per cent year-over-year to 805,900.

In total, Canadian residents returned from 2.4 million trips to the United States in April.

In March, by contrast, Canadians returned from 2.6 million trips to the United States, a contraction of 6.4 per cent compared to the same month one year prior.