Travel Tumult: Canadian Return Trips to U.S. Drop 26% in October
Posted on: December 28, 2025, 08:08h.
Last updated on: December 28, 2025, 08:08h.
- StatsCan data shows Canadians continue to avoid U.S. when travelling
- Year-long trend since start of U.S.-Canada trade dispute and comments by U.S. President Trump
- November Flight Centre study says 62% of Canadians less likely to travel to U.S. in 2026
Canadian travel to the U.S. continues to tank, according to data released by Statistics Canada, nearly a year-long trend going back to the start of a trade war before the two countries and comments by U.S. President Donald Trump about welcoming Canada as America’s 51st state.
So, there’s obviously a lot of anger among Canadians that continues to fester. According to Statistics Canada, the number of Canadian-resident return trips from the U.S. in October was down 26.3% year over year (2.3 million trips to the U.S.).
The number of trips to Canada by U.S. residents was up 3% (1.8 million trips – 76.8% of all non-resident trips to Canada). That broke an eight-month trend of year-over-year declines.
Over 26% Drop in October
That 2.3 million number still accounted for 70.1% of all trips abroad taken by Canadian residents during the month.
In October, the number of Canadian-resident return trips by air from the U.S. decreased 15.1% (685,100) compared with the same month a year earlier. Canadian resident-return trips from the U.S. by car declined 30.2% in October (1.6 million). Of these trips, 67.5% were same-day trips.
Canadians are travelling more overseas – destinations like Europe, Asia, Oceania, Africa and Americas (countries other than the U.S.). Trips by Canadians to destinations overseas increased 9.1% in October according to Statcan.
2026 Looks Bleak
An Angus Reid study released in November revealed that 70% of Canadians say they would be uncomfortable travelling to the U.S. this winter, and two-thirds (65%) describe new border requirements for long-term visitors (including fingerprinting and a $60 registration fee) as “invasive”.
Three-quarters of Canadians (77%) say they view the U.S. more negatively as a travel destination this year than in prior years.
According to a Flight Centre study of over 1,000 adult Canadians, asking them about their travel intentions for 2026, 62% said they were less likely to travel to the U.S. compared to previous years. The study was conducted in November.
Last Comments ( 1 )
Beyond the so-called “boycott” (which in reality isn’t an organized effort at all, but a broad public reaction to the Trump administration’s attacks on Canadian sovereignty and the Canadian economy), there’s a simpler reason tourism is falling: people don’t want to travel to a country where they can have their phones searched, be photographed, and fingerprinted at the border. And it’s not just Canadians choosing not to go to the U.S.; Europeans and others are following suit. History shows this pattern clearly: tourism dropped sharply in Germany after Hitler seized power because of the instability and repression of the regime. The same dynamic is now unfolding in the United States for the same reasons. So don’t single out Canada. Don’t blame Canada. Blame yourselves.