- Canadian-resident border crossings from the US dropped 25.4pc in 2025.
- The pullback bottomed out in July, with crossings nearly one-third below 2024 levels.
- Domestic visits rose 1.5pc, accounting for over 90pc of Canadian visits.
- Overseas visits to Europe rose 13.6pc and Asia rose 16.7pc.
- Travel spending on US visits declined by $3.3bn to $18.8bn.
Statistics Canada has reported that Canadian-resident return border crossings from the United States dropped 25.4pc in 2025 compared to 2024. Following the change in the US administration and implementation of America First policies, travel sentiment shifted abruptly. By the end of 2025, return border crossings from the United States accounted for two-thirds of all Canadian resident border crossings from abroad, down from three-quarters in 2024.
Automobile travel contracted sharply while air travel declined throughout the year, reflecting that it is easier to change automobile travel plans than air travel plans. The pullback bottomed out in July, with border crossing volumes nearly one-third below those reported 12 months earlier. Excluding the COVID-19 pandemic period, the resulting 11-month streak of year-over-year declines was the deepest and most sustained on record since 1972.
Domestic travel offset the pullback, with domestic visits rising 1.5pc (+5.0m visits), accounting for over 90pc of all Canadian-resident visits. Overseas destinations were the second-largest beneficiary, with visits to Europe up 13.6pc and Asia up 16.7pc. Travel spending on visits to the United States declined by $3.3bn to total $18.8bn in 2025.
