Canadian travel boycott of U.S. may be bottoming out

After more than a year of political tensions and fractured trade relations that sparked nationwide movements to buy domestically and avoid travel to the United States, Canadians increased their trips south of the border this summer – but not by much.

In June, Canadian residents returned from 2.3 million trips to the U.S., marking a 5 per cent year-over-year increase, Statistics Canada said on Thursday.

The number of trips increased for the third month in a row after 15 consecutive months of year-over-year declines, although volumes remained well below pre-tension norms. There were nearly 25 per cent fewer trips this June than in June, 2024.

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Trips by car drove this June’s increase, rising 7.6 per cent compared to June, 2025, with two-thirds of those being same-day trips.

At the same time, travel to the U.S. by plane continued to decline, down 1 per cent over the year with around 545,000 return trips made in June. However, jet fuel prices dramatically spiked over the spring and summer because of the Iran war, raising flight costs for travellers. In June, 2026, air transportation prices in Canada increased by 9.6 per cent on a year-over-year basis, according to Statscan.

Strained relations between Canada and the U.S. began in early 2025, when U.S. President Donald Trump returned to office and threatened to impose punitive tariffs on Canada, marking the beginning of a trade war that has rocked the economy and destroyed thousands of jobs.

In response to the tariffs and Mr. Trump’s “51st state” comments, many Canadians took matters into their own hands by spending their dollars at home to support a faltering economy and reshaping their travel plans.

In 2025, Canadians cut travel to the U.S. by 25 per cent – or took 10 million fewer trips – and picked up travel overseas, which rose nearly 10 per cent.

Kari Norman, senior economist at Desjardins, said a new sentiment that prioritizes travel within Canada has been a large driver of reduced tourism to the U.S.

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“That’s probably a big reason why we’re down still almost 25 per cent from where we were two years ago in June,” she said in an interview.

A Leger poll from March found that 70 per cent of Canadians were less likely to travel to the U.S. in 2026, with the leading reason being political tensions between the two countries.

Meanwhile, the Canadian dollar has been less favourable this summer, as it was trading at 71 U.S. cents compared to around 73 U.S. cents in the two previous Junes.

On the other hand, Americans have been enjoying more travel to Canada, potentially taking advantage of the currency and World Cup games in Toronto and Vancouver, as trips to Canada by U.S. residents rose 6.1 per cent compared to June of last year.