Travel between Canada and other countries, April 2018
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Released: 2018-06-20
US residents make fewer trips to Canada in April 2018
US residents made 2.0 million trips to Canada in April, down 4.0% from March and down 2.8% from April 2017. The declines were mainly attributable to decreases in car travel.
After accounting for normal seasonal variation, the number of car trips by US residents to Canada totalled 1.3 million in April, down 5.3% from the previous month and down 5.7% from the same month last year. Overnight plane trips accounted for 416,000 trips, down 2.7% from March, but 3.4% higher than April 2017.
Of the car trips to Canada made by US residents, 637,000 were same-day car trips, down 6.2% from March and a decline of 8.5% from April 2017. There were 655,000 overnight car trips to Canada made by US residents, down 4.4% from March and down 2.8% from April 2017. All border provinces except Manitoba reported reduced car trips by US residents in April, on both a month-over-month and year-over-year basis.
The three most-visited provinces by all modes of transportation were Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec.
The value of the Canadian dollar, historically an important factor influencing the movement of people across the Canada-US border, rose from US$0.77 in March to US$0.79 in April. In April 2017, the exchange rate was US$0.74 for each Canadian dollar.
Travel to Canada from overseas is stable
Residents of overseas countries (countries other than the United States) made 582,000 trips to Canada in April. This was little changed (-0.1%) from March, but up 1.9% from April 2017. Over three-quarters of these trips were by European and Asian travellers.
The number of trips by travellers from Europe rose 2.8% over March to 250,000, while travellers from Asia made 204,000 trips to Canada, down 2.3% from March.
Overnight travel to the United States rises
Canadian residents made 3.8 million trips to the United States in April. An increase in overnight travel was more than offset by a decline in same-day trips, resulting in a slight decline from March (-0.4%). However, the total number of trips by Canadian residents to the United States was 8.7% higher than in April 2017.
The majority of trips (2.9 million) were made by car, down 1.3% from the previous month. Same-day car trips fell 3.5% from the previous month to 2.0 million. In contrast, overnight car trips rose 3.5% from March to 972,000.
Overnight plane trips increased 1.8% from the previous month to 734,000.
Canadian travel to overseas countries continues to climb
Canadian residents made 1.1 million trips to overseas destinations (countries other than the United States) in April, up 2.0% from March and 8.5% higher than April 2017. This represents the highest April total on record.
Note to readers
Monthly data are seasonally adjusted. For information on seasonal adjustment, see Seasonally adjusted data – Frequently asked questions. Year-to-date figures are based on unadjusted data.
Data users making comparisons between April 2017 and April 2018 using unadjusted data are advised that the entirety of Easter weekend took place in April in 2017, compared with March and April in 2018 (Easter Sunday was April 1, 2018).
Seasonally adjusted data from January to December 2017 and from January to March 2018 have been revised. Non-seasonally adjusted data from April to September 2017 (second and third quarters) have been revised. No corrections were made to the previous month.
Data for Statistics Canada's Frontier Counts program are produced using administrative data received from the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) on all international travellers who have been cleared for entry or re-entry into Canada. This includes residents of Canada, the United States and overseas entering Canada from abroad.
In 2017, the CBSA began introducing the electronic Primary Inspection Kiosk (PIK) system at airports in Canada. The PIK system replaces the E-311 Declaration Cards that were completed by international travellers to Canada. As of the end of October, the PIK system was deployed at the following airports: Macdonald–Cartier, Ottawa (March 2017); Vancouver International Airport (April 2017); Toronto International Airport T3 (June 2017); Edmonton International Airport (September 2017); Stanfield International Airport, Halifax (October 2017); Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport, Montréal (November 2017); and Jean Lesage Airport, Québec (December 2017).
While awaiting receipt of PIK data, Statistics Canada prepared preliminary estimates for airports at which the PIK system has been deployed. These estimates are based on CBSA reports of total international travellers by airport, while the distribution between Canadian, American and travellers from individual overseas countries are modelled estimates based on historical data and trends, using methods similar to those used to do seasonal adjustment.
Once PIK data have been reviewed and processed, Statistics Canada will revise the preliminary estimates for these airports, as well as the provincial and national totals to which they contribute.
Overseas countries refer to countries other than the United States.
A Canadian resident traveller is a Canadian resident who has travelled outside Canada for a period of less than 12 months.
A non-resident traveller is a resident of a country other than Canada who is travelling to Canada for a period of less than 12 months.
An overnight traveller or a tourist is a traveller whose trip includes one or more night's stay.
Products
The publication International Travel, Advance Information (66-001-P) is not available this month. Previous editions of the publication are accessible on our website. New tables that are comparable to those previously available in the publication have been created and can be accessed in tables 2410004102, 2410004302, 2410004303 and 2410000302.
The updated Canada and the World Statistics Hub (13-609-X) is available online. This product illustrates the nature and extent of Canada's economic and financial relationship with the world using interactive graphs and tables. This product provides easy access to information on trade, investment, employment and travel between Canada and a number of countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Mexico, China and Japan.
Contact information
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