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It’s official: Canadian travel patterns have shifted dramatically as U.S. trips drop and overseas travel surges.
According to a Statistics Canada report published in March, 2026, Canadian travel abroad shows a sharp contrast between U.S. and overseas destinations.
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Starting in early 2025, Canadian travel patterns shifted amid political tensions with the U.S. By early 2026, trips by Canadians to the United States had declined for over a year, reflecting a consistent drop in both automobile and air travel. Meanwhile, visits to Canada by U.S. residents remained steady, showing notable growth compared with previous years.
Is Canadian travel to the U.S. declining?
On the heels of the news that numerous routes to the U.S. have been suspended by several airlines, the report states that trips to the United States fell 22%, continuing a 13-month streak of year-over-year decreases.
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Auto travel to the U.S. saw the steepest drop at 26.3%, with 67.5% of these being same-day excursions.
Air travel from the U.S. also declined 12.8%, totaling 753,400 trips.
In contrast, return trips from overseas countries increased 10.6% to 1.5 million—the first time Canadian-resident trips from abroad surpassed U.S. auto arrivals (1.3 million) since records began in 1972, excluding the pandemic period.
This surge highlights a renewed appetite among Canadians for long-haul international travel.
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Is U.S. travel to Canada declining?
Meanwhile, travel to Canada by U.S. residents remained relatively stable.
January saw 1.1 million trips, down slightly by 0.3% year-over-year. Automobile arrivals accounted for 812,700 trips, a 0.8% decline, while air travel increased 2.7% to 262,100 trips. On a seasonally adjusted basis, total U.S. arrivals rose 4.7%, driven by gains in both auto (+3.9%) and air (+5.4%) travel.
Arrivals by overseas residents fell 2.1% to 303,200, marking the first decline since March 2025. Most overseas visitors (89.4%) arrived by air. The decrease was largely driven by a drop in arrivals from Asia (-18.6%), partially offset by growth from the Americas excluding the U.S. (+10.9%) and Europe (+4.6%). The top three overseas markets were Mexico, the United Kingdom, and France, accounting for 28.2% of all overseas arrivals.
On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, overseas arrivals dipped 2.4%, with declines from Asia (-4.2%), Europe (-1.1%), Africa (-8.1%), and the Americas excluding the U.S. (-2.1%), while Oceania grew slightly (+0.7%). Key contributors to the overall decrease included fewer visitors from India, Italy, and France.
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Overall, Canadian-resident return trips abroad dropped 2.2% month-over-month, reflecting declines in both U.S. air travel (-4.6%) and overseas air travel (-2.0%).
These figures illustrate the continuing influence of seasonal and calendar effects on Canadian travel patterns.
For the more information about the Statistics Canada report, click here.
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