Canadian tourism to the U.S. has seen a slight bump in 2026 versus 2025, but the number of Canadians traveling to the U.S. is still down significantly since the second inauguration of President Trump.
New data released this week by Statistics Canada, the nation’s official statistical office, showed the number of Canadians returning home after a trip to the U.S. this June was more than 3.2% higher than the previous one.
June was the third-consecutive month of year-over-year increases of “Canadian-resident return trips” from the U.S. In June alone, there were 1.7 million trips that fit that criteria.
The bulk of those return trips came by automobile, which saw a 5.2% increase from June 2025, while return trips by air decreased 3.8%.
Canadian tourism to the U.S. cratered in early 2025 due to ongoing political tensions between Canada and the U.S., largely from comments President Donald Trump made repeatedly about annexing the nation’s northern neighbors and turning Canada into the “51st state.”
The confounding comments by the president, which have picked up steam again in recent weeks, as well as new tariffs on Canadian goods, and overall cautiousness from Canadian residents, led to a massive shift in Canada’s travel and tourism habits.
While June 2026 trips increased compared to June 2025, looking back all the way to June 2024, return trips are down by a jaw-dropping 28.7%, with vehicle and air travel arrivals each dipping more than one-quarter.
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Despite the unrealistic and wholly unnecessary idea that the U.S. and Canada would ever be one, Canadians have largely opted to stay home or travel elsewhere rather than spend their time and money in the States.
According to the Senate Joint Economic Committee, Canadian tourism contributed $20.5 billion to the U.S. economy in 2024. The decline in Canadian visitors to the U.S. has had a massive economic impact on the country, particularly in border states like Washington, Montana, Minnesota, Michigan, New Hampshire, New York and Vermont. These states have potentially lost millions of dollars in economic input from disappearing Canadian visitors.
Is Canadian tourism really coming back to the U.S.?
According to Statistics Canada, any seeming increase in Canadian tourism comes with a major asterisk.
“The increase in June was due to a base-year effect,” the agency writes, meaning that visits to the U.S. were at such a low point that any gains in 2026 are against a paltry base figure for 2025.
And even if more Canadians are visiting the U.S. intentionally, there may be other factors at play.
The June increase can also likely be attributed in part to the 2026 FIFA World Cup, in which both the U.S. and Canada, as well as Mexico, played host to dozens of international soccer matches and welcomed tens of thousands of visitors.
While Canada hosted its own share of matches, many Canadians likely would have traveled to the States to see others. Americans also traveled to Canada at a higher clip in June 2026 than June 2025, giving extra credence to this.
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Canadian officials did say however there has been five consecutive months of year-over-year increases in U.S. residents traveling to Canada.
Statistics Canada released these preliminary travel numbers on Monday, but a more detailed report is expected to be released on Aug. 20. The preliminary figures for July 2026 will be released on Aug. 11.
Current and historical data can be found on Statistics Canada’s interactive online dashboard.
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