Last year, Canadian return trips to the United States were down 25.4 per cent from 2024, while overseas trips rose by just over 9 per cent, according to Statistics Canada. The decline in Canadian travel is painful for tourist-dependent trade in the U.S., according to Aaron Klein, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution. Advertisement AdvertisementAdvertisement AdvertisementAccording to Airalo, an eSIM store offering digital SIMs for global travellers, activation data from last year showed huge growth of Canadian tourism to France, Japan, and Mexico. “Our data confirms a significant shift in Canadian travel patterns, with a 26 per cent year-over-year decrease in U.S.-bound travel,” said Emma Brooks, Airalo’s growth director for North America. Advertisement AdvertisementAdvertisement AdvertisementFebruary also saw the lowest level of Canadian return trips by car from the U.S. in nearly four years, matching pandemic-era rates.

Source: National Post March 16, 2026 14:22 UTC