Number of Canadians returning from U.S. trips down again in May

Canadians continued to avoid making trips to the U.S. in May, according to preliminary data from Statistics Canada.

The agency says return trips by Canadian residents by air from the U.S. in May fell 24.2% compared with a year ago to 488,800, while return trips from overseas countries rose 9.8% to 1.1 million. Meanwhile, Canadian resident return trips from the U.S. by automobile totalled 1.3 million, down 38.1% compared with May 2024.

Canadians have avoided travel to the U.S. in response to President Donald Trump’s tariffs and “51st state” threats over the past few months.

According to preliminary figures, Statistics Canada says international arrivals in May, including returning Canadian residents and non-residents combined, by air and automobile totalled 4.8 million, down 16.7% from May 2024.

Non-resident arrivals to Canada by air totalled 894,200 in May, down 1.3% from a year ago. The number of U.S. residents arriving by air totalled 439,800, down 0.3% from a year ago, while the number of overseas residents arriving slipped 2.3% to 454,500.

The number of U.S.-resident trips to Canada by automobile was 1,044,700, down 8.4% from a year ago.

The Canadian Press

The Canadian Press is a national news agency headquartered in Toronto and founded in 1917.