National Travel Survey, fourth quarter 2022
Released: 2023-05-26
Highlights
Canadian residents took 67.6 million trips during the fourth quarter of 2022, 13.3 million more than in the fourth quarter of 2021. During the fourth quarter of 2022, travel expenditures in the United States and overseas reached $8.6 billion—while $14.5 billion was spent on domestic travel, which accounted for 90.2% of all trips.
Travel sector faces late fourth quarter challenges
On October 1, 2022, all COVID-19 border restrictions, including vaccination, mandatory use of the ArriveCAN app, and testing and quarantine requirements, were removed for all travellers including Canadian residents returning home by land, air, or sea.
The travel sector faced new challenges near the end of the fourth quarter of 2022. Several major winter storms occurred across Canada and the United States, affecting all modes of travel.
Domestic travel takes off
In the fourth quarter, Canadian residents took 60.9 million domestic trips, up by 9.2 million from the fourth quarter of 2021, reaching 97.4% of the same quarter in 2019. The number of domestic overnight trips was 19.3 million in the fourth quarter of 2022, while 41.6 million same-day trips were taken during the same quarter.
Domestic travel expenditures by Canadian residents were $14.5 billion in the fourth quarter of 2022, up 30.8% from the fourth quarter of 2021 ($11.1 billion). The largest spending category during the fourth quarter of 2022 was vehicle operations ($3.0 billion), followed by accommodations ($2.7 billion) and restaurants and bars ($2.5 billion).
Travel to the United States recovers
During the fourth quarter, Canadian residents took 5.2 million trips to the United States, more than three times the number of trips from the same quarter in 2021, and over four-fifths (82.4%) of the 6.3 million trips taken during the same quarter in 2019.
Total travel expenditures by Canadian residents in the United States reached $5.8 billion in the fourth quarter of 2022, exceeding travel expenditures during the same quarter of 2021 ($1.6 billion) and 2019 ($5.1 billion).
Spending by Canadian residents visiting the United States was highest on accommodation ($2.2 billion) and in restaurants and bars ($1.0 billion) in the fourth quarter of 2022. Among trip purposes, holiday, leisure, or recreation (2.5 million trips) and visiting friends or relatives (1.1 million trips) were the most reported.
Overseas travel
During the fourth quarter, Canadian residents returned from 1.4 million trips overseas, more than the fourth quarter of 2021 (946,300), but three-fifths (59.5%) of the trips taken during the same quarter of 2019.
Most Canadian residents travelled overseas for holiday, leisure, or recreation purposes (873,700), and to visit friends or relatives (402,600) in the fourth quarter of 2022.
Of the $2.9 billion spent overseas by Canadian travellers in the fourth quarter, the two largest spending categories were accommodation ($1.3 billion) and restaurants and bars ($618.8 million).
The top three overseas countries that Canadian residents visited during the fourth quarter were Mexico (351,000 visits), France (101,000 visits), and Italy (100,000 visits).
Year in review, 2022
The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic continued to affect travel patterns during 2022. However, the combination of easing travel restrictions and a busy summer travel season contributed to Canadian residents making a total of 281.3 million trips during 2022. This amounts to 35.7% more trips taken than in 2021 (207.3 million trips), however, it is fewer than the 313.3 million trips taken in 2019, prior to the pandemic.
During 2022, Canadian residents spent $69.0 billion while travelling domestically, and $32.1 billion while travelling abroad, resulting in total tourism expenditures of $101.1 billion.
Data from the fourth quarter of 2022 from the National Travel Survey are now available. Other tables, including statistical profiles of Canadian travellers, are available upon request.
Note to readers
The National Travel Survey collects information about the domestic and international travel of Canadian residents.
All spending estimates are based on visit expenditures, and domestic visit expenditures include commercial air expenditures incurred at the point of origin of the trip.
The target population is the civilian, non-institutionalized population 18 years of age and older in Canada's provinces, excluding people living on Indian reserves and in the territories. Routine trips taken by commuters and diplomatic or military personnel are out of scope.
Domestic trips are made by travellers residing in Canada who travelled inside Canada for a period of less than 12 months before returning to their place of residence.
Same-day trips or visits take place within the same calendar day—that is, the traveller left and returned home on the same day—and must be a distance of 40 km or more away (one way).
Trips abroad are made by travellers residing in Canada who travelled outside Canada for a period of less than 12 months before returning to Canada. Foreign citizens who are residing in Canada and travel abroad are included as Canadian resident travellers.
A trip abroad for people residing in Canada starts when they cross the border to exit Canada and ends when they first re-enter Canada.
Trips and visits: A trip can consist of one or more visits. A Canadian traveller on a trip abroad may cross into several countries or US states before being recorded as having re-entered Canada. Each of these crossings represents a visit. Similarly, a Canadian resident travelling in Canada may stay in several locations during their trip. Each stay at a Canadian location (for example, a province) within a given trip represents a visit.
More recent data on international travel by Canadian residents are available from the monthly "Travel between Canada and other countries."
Contact information
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).
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