Canadians saying no to US travel, taking fewest number of car trips there in years

Indicators, including airport screening data, showed a shift towards domestic travel among Canadians. Kayaking at Knight Inlet, British Columbia, Canada. Photo / Jason Drake/Knight Inlet Lodge

Canadians are committed to ditching United States travel, taking the fewest number of car trips there in the year’s first half since at least 2017, excluding the Covid pandemic.

Over the past six months, Canadians returned from just eight million trips, well below the 11 million entries during the same period in 2024, according to Statistics Canada data released today.

In June, Canadian-resident return trips by automobile from the US plunged 33.1% from a year ago.

The sixth straight monthly drop underscores a movement among Canadians who are deliberately avoiding US holidays and products to protest against US President Donald Trump’s threats to their country’s economy and sovereignty.

The number of US car trips to Canada also fell for the fifth consecutive month, dropping 10.4% in June.

The drop coincided with both the trade war and a weaker US dollar, which fell more than 5% against the ‘loonie’ in the first half of the year.

Canadians’ return trips by air from other countries rose 7.3% in June, while those from the US dropped 22%.

Tourist arrivals from the US decreased by 0.7%, and those from other countries were at similar levels to last year.

“These trends are particularly promising as ongoing US tensions appear to be influencing some global tourists to consider Canada as an alternative destination,” Anusha Arif, economist at Toronto-Dominion Bank, said in an interview.

Other indicators, including airport screening data, also showed a “significant shift” towards domestic travel among Canadians, she said.

Canada’s total tourism spending is expected to grow between 2% and 4% this year despite an anticipated 5%-10% decline in US spending, Arif said.

That’s because a strong increase in the number of Canadian and other international visitors is expected to compensate for fewer American tourists.