Canadian travellers are still skipping travel to the United States, with new data showing the eighth straight month of declines in the number of return trips.
Statistics Canada says August saw a drop of 29.7 per cent for Canadian residents returning from trips to the U.S compared to a year prior, after July saw a drop of 32.4 per cent.
With just over 2.8 million return trips made from the U.S., 2.2 million were by automobile, which was down by 32.6 per cent. The agency also says more than half (57.6 per cent) were same-day trips.
Meanwhile, 608,800 return trips from the U.S. by Canadians were by air, and that marked a 17 per cent decline compared to a year earlier.
The data also shows the feeling may not be mutual, with more Americans travelling to Canada.
Statistics Canada says for the third time since June 2006, excluding August and September of 2021 when pandemic-era global travel rules were in place, August 2025 saw more U.S. residents travelling to Canada compared to the other way around.
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Trips by U.S. residents visiting Canada in August totalled 3.2 million, which was down 1.4 per cent compared to last year, according to the agency.
U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff policies sparked a trade war in early 2025, which led Canada and other nations to rethink their relationships with the United States.
Trump has also repeated rhetoric that Canada should become the “51st state” as a way to avoid being hit by tariffs.
Prime Minister Mark Carney responded by urging Canadians during the federal election campaign to keep their “elbows up,” which helped to fuel a new wave of patriotism — including for consumers and travellers alike.
That patriotism has spurred most Canadians to say they are avoiding travel or products from the U.S. in multiple polls conducted by Ipsos for Global News.
Americans have noticed the drop in Canadian visitors too.
In July 2025, a bipartisan group of U.S. senators visited Ottawa and told Canadian tourists “we miss you.”
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
