Fewer Canadians heading south as U.S. travel drops sharply in October

RED FM News Desk

December 23, 2025

Canadians continued to scale back travel to the United States in October, according to new figures from Statistics Canada, extending a trend that has emerged throughout much of the year.

Data released Monday shows a 26.3 per cent year-over-year decline in Canadian residents returning from trips to the U.S. In total, Canadians made 2.3 million return trips from the United States in October, travelling by both air and automobile.

Automobile travel saw the steepest drop. Return trips by car fell 30.2 per cent to 1.6 million, with more than two-thirds — 67.5 per cent — being same-day visits. Air travel also declined, with 685,100 Canadian residents returning from U.S. destinations by plane, a decrease of 15.1 per cent compared with October 2024.

The latest figures align with an earlier Statistics Canada report showing an 8.9 per cent decline in passengers travelling from Canadian airports to U.S. destinations in October. That marked the ninth consecutive month of year-over-year decreases.

Public sentiment appears to be influencing travel decisions. A Global News–Ipsos poll conducted in September found that six in 10 adult Canadians said they could no longer trust Americans in the same way, following months of U.S. tariffs impacting the Canadian economy and repeated remarks by U.S. President Donald Trump suggesting Canada should become the “51st state.”

Statistics Canada’s data also indicates a broader shift in travel behaviour. While Canadians are travelling abroad less overall, those who do travel are increasingly choosing destinations outside the United States. Canadian residents returned from 3.3 million trips abroad in October, an 18.4 per cent drop from last year, while trips to overseas destinations rose by 9.1 per cent.

The agency defines overseas travel as trips to Europe, Asia, Oceania, Africa, and countries in the Americas other than the United States.

Industry forecasts suggest the trend may continue into next year. Flight Centre Canada says its own survey found that 70 per cent of respondents are planning one or two trips in the coming year, but only eight per cent are considering the United States as a destination.