Threats of annexation by United States President

Donald Trump

along with the

trade war

and continued political tensions between the two countries have impacted how and where Canadians chose to

travel

last year, as trips south of the border declined significantly from 2024.

Trips by Canadian residents to the U.S. totalled 29.1 million in 2025, down 25.4 per cent from the year before, according to Statistics Canada’s newly released data on travel between Canada and other countries.

“The year-over-year decrease occurred alongside continued political tensions between Canada and the

United States

and is the first annual decline since 2016 (excluding during the pandemic),” Statistics Canada said.

By comparison, Canadians’ overseas trips outside of the U.S. were up 9.2 per cent to 14.2 million in 2025, indicating a deliberate shift in travel preferences.

Overall, Canadian residents took 43.3 million trips to and from abroad, which was down 16.7 per cent compared with 2024.

The number of trips made by Canadians to and from the U.S. last year was two-thirds or 66.4 per cent of the total number observed in 2019, before the pandemic, while return trips from overseas countries surpassed the pre-pandemic level for the second consecutive year by 14.9 per cent in 2025.

Statistics Canada released its full-year 2025 travel data on Monday along with monthly totals for December.

In that month, trips from the U.S. by Canadians decreased 25 per cent year-over-year to 2.2 million trips. The U.S. trips accounted for 64.9 per cent of all trips abroad taken by Canadian residents in December.

Meanwhile, U.S. residents took 1.6 million trips to Canada in December, a 7.5 per cent decline from the same month in 2024. The American visitors represented 75.4 per cent of all non-resident trips to Canada that month.

In contrast, overseas trips to and from Canada by non-U.S. travellers

 

increased in December compared to the previous year. Canadian trips from overseas

 

were up 12.9 per cent, while trips to Canada by overseas residents were up 14.1 per cent to 509,500 trips, with 90.7 per cent arriving by air.

The number of Canadian return trips by air from the U.S. was 718,400 in December, down 11 per cent month over month, while resident return trips by air from overseas countries totalled 1.2 million, up 13.3 per cent compared with a year prior.

Overall, Canadian residents returned from 3.5 million trips abroad in December, down 15 per cent compared with December 2024.

  • Canadian air travel to the U.S. drops for the 11th straight month
  • Canadian trips to U.S. plummet 31% in December, says Statistics Canada

• Email: dpaglinawan@postmedia.com