Canadians travelled more during spring, but fewer headed to U.S.: StatCan

While overall travel by Canadians rose in the second quarter compared with a year earlier, travel to the United States dropped sharply by more than 20 per cent, Statistics Canada reports.

From April through June, Canadians made 99.3 million trips, an 8.5 per cent increase year over year.

However, only 5.6 million of those trips involved travel to the U.S., a decline of 21.6 per cent from the same period last year.

In a press release, the agency also noted that nearly four in 10 U.S. visits during the quarter were same-day trips.

“Expenditures during visits to the United States totalled $4.8 billion, a decline of 14.9 per cent from the second quarter of 2024,” the release said.

“In the United States, Canadian residents spent an average of $125 per same day visit in the second quarter of 2025. For overnight stays, Canadian residents spent on average $1,312 per visit, and the average visit length was 7.3 nights.”

The timeframe analyzed by Statistics Canada coincided with a period when U.S. President Donald Trump intensified his trade and tariff messaging, highlighted by his “Liberation Day” declaration on April 2.

As Trump repeatedly threatened to impose taxes on Canadian imports and made remarks about turning Canada into the “51st state,” many Canadians appeared to steer clear of travelling to the United States.

Instead, Statistics Canada’s figures indicate that a significant share of those travellers chose to vacation within Canada.

“In the second quarter, Canadian residents took 90.6 million trips that included a domestic visit, up 10.9 per cent on a year-over-year basis,” the agency said in its release.

StatCan reported that same-day trips within Canada increased by more than 12 per cent during the quarter, while overnight travel grew by 8.4 per cent.

“From April to June, Canadian residents spent $20.3 billion on domestic tourism, up 13.5 per cent year over year,” the release read.

“For same-day visits, Canadian residents spent an average of $101 per visit. For overnight visits, Canadian residents spent on average $449 per visit, and the average visit length was 2.6 nights.”

Most visited overseas countries

StatCan also reported an increase in overseas travel by Canadians this spring.

During the second quarter, travellers made 3.3 million trips to destinations outside the U.S., marking a 10.4 per cent rise from the same period last year.

Mexico (471,000 visits) was the most visited overseas country by Canadian residents in the second quarter, followed by France (319,000) and the United Kingdom (279,000), the agency reports.

Compared with the second quarter of 2024, Japan, Spain and France were among the countries with the largest volume increases in the second quarter of 2025.

Meanwhile, declines were seen for the Dominican Republic, Cuba and Thailand.

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