Canada’s tourism industry outpaced overall GDP last year, particularly in the fourth quarter, thanks in part to a boost in spending by international visitors, according to new data from Statistics Canada.
The agency said Friday that spending by international tourists grew 3.6 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2025 from the previous quarter, which was the fastest pace in two years.
International visitors spent $6.4 billion in the fourth quarter, accounting for 24 per cent of all tourism spending in Canada, the highest rate since the start of last year.
Despite those increases, as well as a 3.7 per cent quarterly boost in overnight travel to Canada from abroad, Statistics Canada said there was an annual decline of 0.7 per cent in international visitor spending from 2024.
This was driven primarily by lower levels of travel from the United States in the first half of 2025, the agency said, which coincided with the launching of U.S. President Donald Trump’s trade war with Canada.
Travel from the U.S. has since bounced back, however, with Statistics Canada earlier this month reporting the first monthly increase in U.S. resident trips to Canada in over a year.
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That earlier report showed Canadian visits to the U.S. have continued to fall by double digits every month since Trump returned to the White House last January, when he began referring to Canada as “the 51st state” and threatening tariffs.
Overall, Canada’s real tourism GDP grew 1.2 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2025, up from a 0.9 per cent quarterly increase in the third quarter.
By comparison, economy-wide real GDP by industry contracted 0.1 per cent in the fourth quarter, Friday’s release said, following a 0.6 per cent increase in the third quarter.
On an annual basis, real tourism GDP grew 2.2 per cent in 2025 from the year before, while economy-wide real GDP grew 1.6 per cent.
Destination Canada, a Crown corporation focused on tourism industry marketing, reported last fall that the sector had a “record-breaking” summer with nearly $60 billion in revenue between May and August 2025, representing a six per cent year-over-year increase.
Statistics Canada said Friday that domestic tourism spending by Canadian residents was up 0.5 per cent last quarter, after falling 0.2 per cent in the third quarter, and increased 2.5 per cent annually from 2024.
Ottawa has sought to boost domestic tourism with initiatives like the Canada Strong Pass, which offers free admission to all Parks Canada-administered national parks, marine conservation areas and historic sites.
The federal government’s latest spending plans, however, show the $36-million-a-year Tourism Growth Program — which provided grants to tourism businesses to develop new products and services — will expire or “sunset” next year.
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