Canadian Trips to U.S. Fall 6.4% as Tourism In Canada Shifts
tourism in canada took another turn in March as Canadian residents returned from 2.6 million trips to the United States, down 6.4 per cent from a year earlier. Statistics Canada said the drop was the 15th straight month of year-over-year declines.
The March figures point to a split in cross-border travel. Canadian residents made fewer trips south, while U.S. residents took 1.3 million trips to Canada, up 4.4 per cent from March 2025.
Martin Firestone on U.S. travel
Martin Firestone, president of Travel Secure Inc., said in a Zoom interview with CTVNews.ca on Thursday that his clients are still going. “My clientele for the most part has, and is continuing to, travel to the United States,” he said. Firestone said many of his clients are snowbirds who own or rent accommodation and regularly visit the warmer parts of the United States.
He added, “I don’t believe the snowbird class got affected as much as others.” Firestone said those who have decided not to travel south of the border are more concerned about the significantly low value of the loonie against the U.S. dollar.
Air and car travel
The March decline was sharper by air than by automobile. Return trips from the United States by air fell 10.8 per cent to 934,100, while return trips by automobile declined 3.3 per cent to 1.6 million.
Automobile travel still accounted for most of the movement, and 63.7 per cent of those return trips were same-day travel. That split shows the drop is not limited to one kind of traveler.
Canada and U.S. March data
Statistics Canada said the downward trend in Canadian residents returning from visits south of the border has been occurring since early 2025 amid political tensions. Compared with March 2024, the total decline reached 28 per cent, with automobile trips down 33.7 per cent and trips by air down 15.3 per cent.
The same month brought a different pattern in the other direction. U.S. residents’ trips to Canada rose for a third year-over-year increase, after falling since February 2025 before the rebound. March is the latest sign that the two sides of the border are moving in opposite directions, with Canadian outbound travel still weaker and U.S. visits to Canada recovering.
