Leading indicator of international arrivals to Canada, June 2022
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Released: 2022-07-11
Highlights
In June, the number of international arrivals to Canada rose sharply compared with June 2021, nearing levels recorded in the same month in 2019, before the pandemic.
The 846,700 non-resident visitors arriving from abroad at Canadian airports equipped with electronic kiosks in June 2022 is over 820,000 more than in June 2021.
Likewise, US residents took 904,700 trips to Canada through land ports with electronic sensors in June 2022, over 800,000 more than in June 2021.
At the same time, the number of Canadian residents returning by air from visiting abroad via kiosk-equipped airports (901,300) was over 15 times greater than in June 2021.
Compared with June 2021, over 1 million more Canadian residents—for a total of 1.3 million—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 June 2022. Complete counts for June will be available in the "Travel between Canada and other countries" release on August 23, 2022.
Border restrictions eased further
Travellers arriving in Canada are required to be vaccinated, while unvaccinated travellers, regardless of citizenship, are subject to a COVID-19 test on arrival. However, random COVID-19 testing at all airports was paused on June 11, 2022, for fully vaccinated travellers, allowing airports to streamline their operations during this first month of the busy summer travel season.
All inbound travellers must continue to use the ArriveCAN App to enter their health information, quarantine plan, and proof of vaccination within 72 hours of their scheduled arrival in Canada.
As of June 20, 2022, vaccination is no longer required to travel by plane or train domestically, or to board international flights. However, proof of vaccination is still required for passengers and crew on cruise ships.
Non-resident arrivals by air
Arrivals of non-resident visitors from overseas countries (391,700) and the United States (455,000) at Canadian airports equipped with primary inspection kiosks (PIKs) totalled 846,700 in June 2022, up sharply compared with the 26,200 arrivals observed in June 2021.
With this sharp year-over-year increase, non-resident arrivals are now approaching the 970,600 who arrived by air during the same month in 2019, before the pandemic. However, these total counts for June 2022 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, June, 2019 to 2022
US-resident arrivals by land
In June, US residents took 904,700 trips to visit Canada, crossing by automobile through land ports equipped with the automated Integrated Primary Inspection Line (IPIL) application. This was over 800,000 more trips than taken in June 2021 and over half (52.9%) of the 1.7 million US residents arriving by automobile during the same month in 2019.
Chart 2
US-resident visitors arriving in Canada by automobile, June, 2019 to 2022
Canadians returning by air
The number of Canadian residents returning by air from abroad in June and landing at airports equipped with PIKs was 901,300, up by more than 840,000 compared with June 2021 (58,000).
While this appears to exceed the pre-pandemic levels observed in June 2019, the June 2022 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, June, 2019 to 2022
Canadians returning by land
In June, 1.3 million Canadian residents returned from the United States, crossing by automobile via IPIL-equipped land ports. With this jump of more than 1 million trips compared with June 2021 (250,400), this number was 56.8% of the 2.3 million trips recorded for the same month in 2019, before the pandemic.
Chart 4
Canadian residents returning from visiting the United States by automobile, June, 2019 to 2022
Note to readers
Note that the counts of visitors entering the country by commercial aircraft for June 2022 exclude 4,243 incomplete primary inspection kiosk (PIK) records received for June 27 from 8 of the 10 airports equipped with PIK. These records account for 6% of the records received for June 27 and will be accounted for in the "Travel between Canada and other countries" release on August 23, 2022.
Counts of visitors entering the country by commercial aircraft are from the 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, and this has consequently improved coverage. In addition to arrivals at Toronto Pearson International Airport Terminal 1, readers are cautioned that the June 2019 total international arrivals also exclude those landing at Calgary International Airport. Together, Toronto Pearson International Airport Terminal 1 and Calgary International Airport accounted for roughly one-third of arrivals in June 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 returning Canadian 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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