Canadians may be travelling more by air compared to last year, according to new data, and are choosing domestic destinations and those abroad — but not the United States.
Statistics Canada reported Monday that in September, 1.2 million passengers boarded flights from Canada to the U.S., down 10.5 per cent than the same month in 2024.
The agency compiles the data based on the number of passengers recorded passing through pre-board security screening checkpoints at eight of Canada’s largest airports.
For domestic travel, 2.5 million passengers were screened for flights within Canada — up by 10.2 per cent compared to September 2024. That figure even beat pre-pandemic levels with the month showing an 11.6 per cent spike compared to September 2019.
But, just because Canadians are potentially travelling less to the U.S., that doesn’t mean they aren’t eager to get away.
Statistics Canada reports there was a 3.7 per cent increase, on average, in passengers boarding all flights in September compared to a year earlier — even with the drop in travellers flying to the U.S.
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For flights outside of Canada to destinations other than the U.S., 1.4 million passengers were screened in major Canadian airports. That’s a 6.9 per cent increase over September 2024, and 12.2 per cent higher than September 2019.
This comes amid multiple reports showing a drop in Canadians travelling to the U.S., with August marking the eighth straight month for all forms of travel.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade war has left many Canadians turning away from the U.S. amid the hit to the economy and job market, along with Trump’s rhetoric that Canada should become the “51st state.”
A Global News Ipsos poll conducted in September found Canadians continued to have a soured opinion of the U.S., and ever since the start of the trade war.
In July, a U.S. senator visiting Ottawa acknowledged the drop in tourism and addressed Canadians by saying, “We miss you.”
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