U.S. transport numbers show sharp drop in Canadian travel

New figures from the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) indicate a steep decline in Canadian travel to the United States amid the ongoing trade dispute between the two countries.

According to U.S. data released Monday (Feb. 23), 94.4 million personal vehicles crossed into the country in 2025, and of those, just over 18 million were Canadian.

That represents an 18.8 per cent decrease from the previous year, when more than 26 million Canadians entered the U.S. by car, BTS says. 

The number of Canadian pedestrians entering the U.S. also dropped by 15.4 per cent, the agency reports.

The Buffalo–Niagara Falls border crossing was an exception, recording a 54 per cent increase in pedestrian traffic compared to the previous year, while all other crossings saw declines.

Bus travel across the border also decreased, falling 14.6 per cent from 2024 levels.

Truck crossings along the northern border dropped by 5.1 per cent compared to the year before, with Port Huron being the only crossing that did not experience a decline.

December StatCan numbers

Statistics Canada also reported on Monday that return trips by Canadian residents driving back from the U.S. fell 30.2 per cent to 1.5 million in December 2025, with 68.4 per cent of those being same-day visits.

Air travel also declined, with 718,400 Canadians returning from the U.S. by plane that month—an 11 per cent decrease compared to December 2024.

The decline comes as many Canadians continue to boycott travel to the U.S. in response to tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump and repeated annexation threats.

Meanwhile, Canadian-resident return trips by air from overseas countries (1.2 million) in December were up 13.3 per cent compared with the same period in 2024, StatCan reports.

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