OTTAWA — Statistics Canada says international tourism set an annual record during Canada 150 last year, with 20.8 million trips of one or more nights. The overall figure surpasses the previous record of 20.1 million set in 2002. The statistics agency says the number of U.S. tourists rose 3.1 per cent in 2017 to reach 14.3 million, the highest figure since 2005, and there were also a record 6.5 million visitors from overseas countries, up 7.2 per cent from 2016. Excluding the United States, Mexico and Brazil are the two largest sources of travellers from the Americas. Statistics Canada said in 2017 the average value of the Canadian dollar was US$0.77, up slightly from an average of US$0.76 in 2016.

Source: National Post February 20, 2018 18:00 UTC