Canadian-resident return trips from the U.S. drop again for April, StatsCan data shows

Travel by Canadians coming back from trips to the U.S. dropped sharply in April, according to preliminary data released Monday by Statistics Canada.

Return trips by Canadians coming back from the U.S. by air dropped by 19.9 per cent, and return via land borders dropped by a whopping 35.2 per cent compared to April of last year.

This comes as return trips by air from overseas countries increased by 9.9 per cent for the month. Overall, Canadian return trips from all countries only dropped by about 1.7 per cent year-over-year.

Trips by U.S. citizens into Canada were also on the decline, according to the agency's data, for the third consecutive month. Travel by car by Americans was down 10.7 per cent and travel by air decreased 5.5 per cent.

Arrivals into Canada in April overall — both by Canadian residents returning home and by travellers from abroad coming into the country — dropped for the third month in a row by 15.2 per cent, according to Statistics Canada.

The figures show even steeper declines than in March — travel into Canada was down 14 per cent overall for that month. Canadian return trips by air from the U.S. in March were down 13.5 per cent compared to March 2024, and return trips by car for that month were down 31.9 per cent.

Many Canadians have been opting not to visit the U.S. in recent months for a number of reasons, such as increased scrutiny and risk of detention at the border, or as a way to boycott the U.S. given President Donald Trump's trade war threats and talk of annexing Canada.

As a result, some Canadians have opted to rebook vacations domestically and spend their travel dollars at home instead.