Canadians continued to take fewer trips to the United States in October, according to the latest data, which mirrors recent monthly data suggesting the trade war and U.S. tariffs have left a sour taste.
Statistics Canada reported on Monday that in October, there was a 26.3 per cent drop in Canadian residents returning from trips to the U.S. compared with one year earlier.
Canadians returned from 2.3 million trips to the U.S. in October, including by both air and automobile.
Trips by automobile declined by 30.2 per cent to 1.6 million — 67.5 per cent of which were made on the same day.
By air, Canadian resident return trips from the U.S. totalled 685,100 in October — a drop of 15.1 per cent compared with the same month in 2024.
This comes after a separate report from Statistics Canada, and released earlier this month, showed an 8.9 per cent drop in passengers at Canadian airports bound for U.S. destinations in October compared with last year — a ninth straight monthly decline.
In September, six in 10 adult Canadians participating in a Global News Ipsos poll said they could never trust Americans the same way ever again.
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This was in response to months of U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs hitting the Canadian economy, in addition to the U.S. president repeating comments that Canada should become the “51st state.”
This week’s report from Statistics Canada shows that Canadians are travelling abroad less overall, but when they are, more are choosing destinations other than the U.S.
Canadian residents returned from 3.3 million trips abroad in October — down 18.4 per cent from last year. Meanwhile, trips by Canadians to destinations overseas increased 9.1 per cent.
Statistics Canada distinguishes “overseas” destinations as Europe, Asia, Oceania, Africa and “Americas (countries other than the United States).”
The trend of Canadians avoiding travel to the U.S. is expected to continue next year, according to a recent report from Flight Centre Canada.
The company said its own survey study found that 70 per cent of respondents are planning at least one or two trips for next year, but only eight per cent are considering the U.S. as one of those destinations.
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