Leading indicator of international arrivals to Canada, April 2022
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Released: 2022-05-12
Highlights
In April 2022, the number of international arrivals to Canada rose from the same month in 2021, approaching levels recorded before the pandemic in April 2019.
There were 365,800 non-resident visitors arriving from abroad at Canadian airports equipped with electronic kiosks, more than 20 times as many compared with April 2021.
US residents took 479,500 trips to Canada through land ports with electronic sensors in April 2022, over 415,700 more than in April 2021.
At the same time, the number of Canadian residents returning from visiting abroad by air via kiosk-equipped airports was much greater than in April 2021, but not yet at levels observed in April 2019, before the pandemic.
Compared with April 2021, there were over 1 million more Canadian residents—for a total of 1,262,900—who returned from trips to the United States through land ports with electronic sensors.
This release provides a first glimpse of international arrivals to Canada in April 2022. Complete counts will be available with April's "Travel between Canada and other countries" release on June 23, 2022.
Border restrictions continue to ease
As of April 1, 2022, fully vaccinated travellers no longer need to provide a pre-entry COVID-19 test result to enter Canada by air, land or water. However, fully vaccinated travellers arriving to Canada from any country may still be randomly selected to take a COVID-19 molecular test on arrival.
As of April 25, 2022, partially vaccinated or unvaccinated children aged 5 to 11 accompanied by a fully vaccinated adult are no longer required to complete a pre-entry COVID-19 test for entry into the country. These tests will still be required for partially vaccinated or unvaccinated travellers aged 12 and older. As of this same date, travellers are no longer required to provide a quarantine plan upon entry.
Non-resident arrivals by air
Arrivals of non-resident visitors—from overseas countries (208,700) and the United States (157,000)—at Canadian airports equipped with Primary Inspection Kiosks (PIKs) numbered 365,800 in April 2022, over 20 times the number of arrivals (17,400) observed in April 2021.
Despite this sharp increase, non-resident arrivals still numbered below the 494,400 such arrivals by air during the same month in 2019, before the pandemic. These total counts now include a sizeable portion of arrivals at Toronto Pearson International Airport Terminal 1, where the PIK system was implemented in June 2021 (see Note to readers).
Chart 1
Non-resident visitors arriving in Canada by commercial aircraft, April, 2019 to 2022
US-resident arrivals by land
In April, US residents took 479,500 trips to visit Canada, crossing by automobile through land ports equipped with the automated Integrated Primary Inspection Line (IPIL) application. While this was over 415,700 more trips than were taken in April 2021, it was half (50.1%) of the 957,900 arrivals by automobile during the same month in 2019.
Chart 2
US-resident visitors arriving in Canada by automobile, April, 2019 to 2022
Canadians returning by air
The number of Canadian residents flying back from visiting abroad in April through airports equipped with PIKs was 1.2 million, up by more than 1 million from April 2021 (41,400).
While this appears to be nearing the pre-pandemic levels observed in April 2019, it should be noted that the count now includes international arrivals at Toronto Pearson International Airport Terminal 1 (see Note to readers).
Chart 3
Canadian residents returning from visiting abroad by commercial aircraft, April, 2019 to 2022
Canadians returning by land
In April, there were 1,262,900 Canadian residents who returned from trips to the United States, crossing by automobile via IPIL-equipped land ports. Despite the jump of more than a million trips since April 2021 (230,200), it is just over half (55.8%) of the 2.3 million trips recorded for the same month in 2019.
Chart 4
Canadian residents returning from visiting the United States by automobile, April, 2019 to 2022
Note to readers
Counts of visitors entering the country by commercial aircraft are from the Primary Inspection Kiosk (PIK) system. In 2020, the subset of arrivals by air represented approximately 58% of all international arrivals. PIKs were deployed at Toronto Pearson International Airport Terminal 1 on June 22, 2021. As of July, these arrivals are included in the total counts, which has consequently improved coverage. In addition to Toronto Pearson International Airport Terminal 1, readers are cautioned that the April 2019 total international arrivals also exclude those landing at Calgary International Airport. Together, these two airports accounted for roughly one-third of the arrivals during April 2022.
The coverage statement will be amended when a complete year of international traffic is observed for all Canadian airports.
Counts of visitors entering the country by automobile through land ports equipped with the automated Integrated Primary Inspection Line (IPIL) system represent a subset of US visitors and Canadian returning visitors by automobile. In January 2021, the IPIL land ports captured approximately 82% of all automobile entries. However, vehicles crossing the border with NEXUS authorization continue to be excluded.
Elements of Statistics Canada's Frontier Counts program have recently been modified. For example, counts of US residents and returning Canadians crossing the border are no longer restricted to US- and Canadian-plated automobiles, respectively. In addition, coverage has increased from a subset of 111 IPIL ports to all land ports equipped with the IPIL system. Although these changes will not have a significant impact on total estimates, readers are encouraged to review the concepts, definitions, data sources and methods for Frontier Counts, especially when making historical comparisons and examining specific regions.
Traveller: A person making an entry into Canada for any purpose and any duration.
Visitor: A traveller whose trip purpose is related to tourism, namely personal, business, study, to be a crew member in a private vehicle (private aircraft or private boat) or whose purpose is not known, and whose trip duration is less than one year.
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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