Cross-border trips to U.S. reach 500,000 fewer travellers in February: CBP

Canadian visitation numbers to the United States continue to see a decline as U.S. President Donald Trump's tariff threats continue to shake bilateral relations.

According to the latest data from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), nearly 500,000 fewer travellers crossed the land border from Canada into the U.S. in February compared to the same month last year.

The number of travellers entering the U.S. in a vehicle dropped from 2,696,512 in February 2024 to 2,223,408 last month, reaching levels not seen since cross-border travel normalized after the COVID-19 pandemic.

The data shows that the number of travellers driving to the U.S. is the lowest it's been since April 2022, CBC News points out. The Canadian government didn't lift all travel-related restrictions, like testing and quarantine measures until October of that year.

The number of cross-border travellers entering the U.S. in October, November, December and January were all above the numbers reported for the same month the year prior — but February shows a clear change in behaviour.

It adds to February counts recently made available from Statistics Canada.

Land border crossings from the U.S. have seen a significant downturn in recent weeks. According to the data, Canadians returning by land is down 23 per cent year-over-year, while Americans entering Canada by land is down 7.9 per cent year-over-year.

READ MORE: ACTA outlines U.S. tariffs’ impact on travel & advocacy plan at town hall

From the same source, air travel shows a smaller but noticeable decline.

Canadians returning by air is down 2.4 per cent year-over-year while Americans entering Canada by air is down 1.3 per cent year-over-year.

In a post to LinkedIn, Avery Campbell, director of advocacy and industry relations at The Association of Canadian Travel Agencies and Travel Advisors (ACTA), predicated that the relatively stable air numbers might be masking an "upcoming sharper decline."

"Many travellers committed to flights long before recent events influenced travel choices, keeping current air travel numbers steady," Campbell wrote. "In contrast, land travel trends suggest a higher sensitivity and flexibility among travellers. We should expect air travel figures to reflect this shift more dramatically in the coming months."

ACTA recently held a virtual town hall to address the tension in U.S.-Canada relations, and how it pertains to travel. Click here to read PAX’s recap of the meeting.

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