Canadian return trips from U.S. down again: StatCan

International passengers arrive at Pearson International Airport in Toronto, Ont. on Wednesday, Feb.11, 2026. U.S. sanctions on oil getting to Cuba have caused jet fuel shortages and flight delays. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jon Blacker

The number of return trips from the U.S. by Canadian residents was down more than 20 per cent in January, a year into the second term of U.S. President Donald Trump, Statistics Canada reported on Monday.

“Starting in early 2025, travel trends among Canadian residents shifted alongside the political tensions between Canada and the United States,” StatCan said on its website.

“In January 2026, Canadian residents returned from 2.1 million trips to the U.S., representing a 22 per cent decrease from the same month in 2025 and marking the 13th consecutive month of year-over-year decline.”

By contrast, the number of Canadian-resident return trips from overseas increased 10.6 per cent year-over-year during the first month of 2026. StatCan said 1.5 million Canadian residents returned from countries other than the U.S. in January.

The agency noted that level exceeded the number of automobile trips to the U.S. in the same month for the first time since the digital “Frontier Counts” records began in 1972, excluding the pandemic period.

“Canadian-resident return trips from the United States by automobile declined 26.3 per cent to 1.3 million in January. Of these arrivals, 67.5 per cent were same-day trips,” StatCan said.

“Meanwhile, the number of return trips by air from the United States (753,400) decreased 12.8 per cent compared with January 2025.”

In total, all 3.6 million Canadian-resident return trips from abroad in January represented an 11 per cent decrease compared to the same month last year.

Arrivals

Trips to Canada by U.S. residents were also down year-over-year in January, but only slightly, according to StatCan.

“In January 2026, U.S.-resident trips to Canada (1.1 million) edged down 0.3 per cent from the same month in 2025,” it said, noting that arrivals by car were down slightly, while arrivals by air increased by 2.7 per cent year-over-year.

Meanwhile, trips to Canada by residents of foreign countries other than the U.S. were down 2.1 per cent in January compared to the same month in 2025, StatCan said, marking the first decline since March of last year.

Arrivals from Asia were down by 18.6 per cent compared to January of last year, accounting for the overall decline, which was partially offset by an increase in arrivals from the Americas and Europe.

“In January, the top three countries of residence for overseas visitors were Mexico, the United Kingdom and France, accounting for 28.2 per cent of all overseas arrivals in Canada,” noted StatCan.