Jun 12, 2025
It looks like elbows are still up as Canadians continue to boycott the U.S through economic means. According to the latest Statistics Canada report, there was a significant decline in Canadian road trips to the United States last month — data shows a 38% decrease in May 2025 compared to the same period last year, affecting what traditionally represents the largest segment of Canadian visitors to the U.S.
Both U.S. road trips and air travel down
According to this StatsCan data, Canadian motorists making return trips to the U.S. saw significant declines in both April and May of 2025. Last month, approximately 1.3 million Canadians drove back from the U.S., representing a 38.1% decrease from the previous year.
The downward trend was also evident in April, when 1.2 million return trips were recorded, showing a 35.2% reduction compared to the same time period in 2024.
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As well, air travel experienced a significant downturn in May, with Canadian return trips decreasing by 24.2% compared to May 2024.
The decline in air travel was more pronounced than the previous month, as April saw a 19.9% year-over-year reduction in Canadian return air travelers.
Airlines have experienced a significant impact from the decline, leading several carriers to adjust their U.S.-bound flight schedules to match reduced passenger demand.
Several major Canadian airlines implemented service reductions in March, with Air Canada cutting flights by 10% to popular destinations such as Florida, Las Vegas and Arizona. Other carriers including WestJet, Flair Airlines and Air Transat followed suit with similar schedule adjustments.
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Downward trends go both ways
There’s also a decline in American travel to Canada, with automobile trips decreasing by 8.4% — that’s down from the 1,044,700 trips taken the previous year.
Meanwhile, air travel from the United States to Canada experienced a minor decrease of 0.3% from 2024 levels.
Sources
1. Statistics Canada: Leading indicator of international arrivals to Canada, May 2025
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Amy Tokic is an SEO content editor for Money.ca. She holds a B.A. in Communications from the University of Windsor. Amy is an award-winning author and has been writing professionally for 15 years, publishing articles in the lifestyle and health sectors. In her free time, Amy loves perusing used book and record stores, and chasing squirrels with wild abandon (a habit attributed to spending too much time with her pooches).
Managing Money • Mar 20
