Canadians are flying back to the U.S. after three years of declining travel

Advertisement 1 This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Breadcrumb Trail Links HomeNewsCanada Canadians are flying back to the U.S. after three years of declining travel The figures relate to trips made in July 2026, which was before the latest escalations in the Canada-U.S. trade war Author of the article: By Ellie Hutchings Published Sep 23, 2026 Last updated 9 minutes ago 3 minute read Join the conversation More Canadians travelled to the U.S. in July 2026 compared to the same month last year. PHOTO BY TONY CALDWELL /Postmedia Article content Canadian resident return trips to the U.S. by air have increased for the first time in 34 months, according to the latest data from Statistics Canada. Article content The figures, which reveal travel trends between Canada and other countries in July 2026, show that return trips to the U.S. by air edged up 0.6 per cent year over year to 567,000, marking the first increase since August 2023. Article content Article content Article content Combined with 2.2 million trips by automobile (a year-over-year increase of 12.6 per cent) and 26,400 by cruise ship, total return trips to the U.S. by Canadian residents reached 2.8 million in July, up 10.1 per cent year-over-year. This marked a fourth consecutive month of year-over-year growth, following 15 consecutive months of decline. Article content NP Posted Get a dash of perspective along with the trending news of the day in a very readable format. Sign Up By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. Article content April 2026 marked the first year-over-year increase in overall return trips from the United States since December 2024, when return trips by automobile rose by 5.8 per cent compared to a year earlier. Although return trips by air had fallen 8.1 per cent, the figures meant overall Canadian-resident return trips from the U.S. rose by 1.4 per cent that month compared to April 2025. Article content But despite this recent shift in travel trends, Canadian resident return trips from the U.S. remained 25.6 per cent below their July 2024 level. Article content Political tensions between Canada and the U.S. contributed to the drop in travel in early 2025, following tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump and his repeated suggestions that Canada could become the 51st state. Meanwhile, heightened security at the border also discouraged…