Topline
For the first time in 15 months, Canadian travel to the U.S. inched up in April—but only because last year’s numbers were so devastating—and overall visitation from Canadians remains down 30% since 2024.
Key Facts
April was the first month since December 2024 when more Canadians (1.4%) traveled to the U.S. than the previous year, according to data released Monday from Statistics Canada.
Still, compared to April 2024, Canadian car travel to the U.S. was down 31% while air travel was down 26%.
The number of Canadians taking road trips into the U.S.—the most common way of visiting—increased by 6% last month compared to April 2025.
Air travel from Canada to the U.S. declined 8% year-over-year in April.
American travel to Canada increased 7% in April, including a 6% jump in car trips and a 10% increase by plane, marking the third consecutive month of year-over-year increases.
Why Did More Canadians Travel To The U.s. This April?
For U.S. tourism officials, April’s good news has a bad-news backdrop. Statistics Canada attributes the slight percent uptick of year-over-year visits in April 2026 to the abnormally weak number in April 2025, the month of President Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs. In April 2025, cross-border car trips fell by 35% and air travel fell by 20% compared to April 2024.
What Changed In 2025?
Following consecutive years of strong growth in inbound tourism, the U.S. saw a precipitous drop in international visitors in 2025 after Trump returned to office. Historically, Canadians have comprised the single largest cohort of inbound tourists to the U.S., making up about a quarter of all foreign visitors, according to the U.S. National Travel and Tourism Office (NTTO). Last spring, amid higher tariffs and Trump’s talk of making Canada “the 51st state,” then-Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau told Canadians not to vacation south of the border and a significant number have heeded that call—and the boycott persists. Roughly six in 10 Canadians (57%) say U.S. government policies, trade practices and political statements have made them less likely to travel to the U.S. in the next 12 months, according to a Longwoods International tracking survey fielded in April. And the percentage of Canadians who believe the U.S. is a safe place to visit continues to decline, from 42% a year ago to 34% now.
How Much Has The Canadian Travel Boycott Cost The U.s.?
In early 2025, the U.S. Travel Association (USTA) warned that even a 10% reduction in Canadian inbound travel could translate to $2.1 billion in lost spending and 140,000 lost jobs in the hospitality sector. The actual year-over-year decline in 2025 was 22%—more than double the USTA’s hypothetical drop. Based on the $20.5 billion Canadian tourists spent in the U.S. in 2024, a 22% decline in visitation amounted to an economic hit of roughly $4.5 billion. The drop has bled into 2026, with declines in the first three months of 2026, on top of last year’s slide.
