Canadian Travel to U.S. Picked Up in September, Still Far Off Pre-Pandemic Norms
Posted on:
October 19, 2026, 01:23h.
Last updated on:
October 20, 2026, 05:13h.
Written by
Mark Keast
Mark is a long-time, seasoned journalist, as a writer and editor, working for several Toronto daily newspapers, then moving over to the digital arena, covering both sports and business. Over the past few years he moved over to the gaming arena, specifically covering the igaming industry in Canada for several platforms, as well as writing on sports betting.
Key Points
Canadian trips to the U.S. rose 6.8% in September but remained well below 2024 levels
Automobile travel stayed particularly weak, with Canadian return trips down 31.1% compared to September 2024
Canadians increasingly shifted spending toward domestic tourism and overseas destinations, while key U.S. hubs like Las Vegas saw declining visitation
Overall travel by Canadians to the United States continues a slow rebound in 2026, though total visits still lag behind historical norms, according to new data from Statistics Canada.
Statistics Canada reports a slight increase in the number of Canadians who travelled to the U.S. in September (Image: Gary Hershorn/Getty Images)
Canadian-resident return trips by automobile and air reached 1.9 million in September, up 6.8% from the previous year. The gain marks the sixth consecutive month of annual increases, according to Statistics Canada.
Canadian Travel Shows Modest Recovery
However, while return trips from the U.S. by automobile in September rose 5.6% from September 2025, they remained 31.1% lower than levels recorded in September 2024.
Similarly, return trips by air in September 2026 increased 11.6% year over year but were still 18.7% below September 2024 figures. The numbers suggest that Canadian travel to the U.S. has yet to fully recover from sharp declines triggered by ongoing cross-border trade and political tensions.
American Visits to Canada Increase
U.S. residents made 1.8 million trips to Canada by automobile or air in September—a 17.2% year-over-year increase that marks an eighth straight month of gains. Statistics Canada attributed part of September’s surge in American visitors to the timing of Labor Day, which fell nearly a week later in September 2026 than it did in 2025.
Spending on domestic leisure-related travel rose 8.1% in 2025, pushing domestic expenditures to $81.3 billion.
Leisure travel to destinations outside the U.S. drove $50 billion in tourism spending outside Canada in 2025, according to Statistics Canada.
Las Vegas Tourism Feels Impact
Christopher Whyte, a travel agent with Freestone Travel in Beamsville, Ontario, highlighted a “significant” lag in air travel to key U.S. hubs—particularly Las Vegas—compared to 2024 levels.
“Airline data and academic tracking, including University of Toronto mobility studies, show that major U.S. metro destinations like Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Orlando experienced steep double-digit drops in Canadian passenger volume through early 2026,” Whyte noted.
Overall Canadian visits to Las Vegas fell 17.4% in 2025 compared to the prior year, dropping to just under 1.2 million tourists, according to data from the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority (LVCVA).
Mark is a long-time, seasoned journalist, as a writer and editor, working for several Toronto daily newspapers, then moving over to the digital arena, covering both sports and business. Over the past few years he moved over to the gaming arena, specifically covering the igaming industry in Canada for several platforms, as well as writing on sports betting.
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