National Travel Survey, third quarter 2022
Released: 2023-02-27
Highlights
Canadian residents took 96.7 million trips within Canada or abroad during the third quarter, 9.7 million more than in the third quarter of 2021. This represents over 95% of the number of trips taken during the same quarter in 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.
From July to September 2022, the majority (92.6%) of trips were domestic, down from 98.9% during the same three months of 2021, while 5.7% were destined for the United States and 1.7% were destined for overseas.
In the third quarter of 2022, Canadian residents spent almost three times as much on domestic trips ($27.3 billion) as international travel ($9.5 billion), and surpassed spending by 26.2% during the same quarter in 2019.
More recent data on international travel by Canadian residents are available from the monthly "Travel between Canada and other countries."
Travel demand sharply increases
Random mandatory COVID-19 testing for fully vaccinated travellers—initially paused on June 11, 2022 at all Canadian airports—resumed on July 19 for those arriving by air in Vancouver, Calgary, Montréal and Toronto.
At the same time, all inbound travellers, including returning Canadian residents, were required to use the ArriveCAN app to enter their health information and proof of vaccination within 72 hours of their scheduled arrival in Canada.
In 2022, the summer travel season was challenging at major Canadian airports. An unforeseen sharp increase in travel demand coupled with staffing shortages resulted in some delays and cancelled flights as well as frustrated passengers.
Domestic travel takes off
In the third quarter, Canadian residents made 89.5 million domestic trips, up by nearly 3.5 million from the third quarter of 2021, reaching 97.7% of the pre-pandemic level from the same quarter in 2019. The number of domestic overnight trips was 34.8 million in the third quarter of 2022, while same-day travel was at 54.7 million trips during the same quarter.
Domestic travel expenditures by Canadian residents were $27.3 billion, up 16.7% from the third quarter of 2021 ($23.4 billion) and 26.2% higher than in the third quarter of 2019 ($21.7 billion). Average spending was $305 per trip ($127 same-day and $585 overnight) in the third quarter of 2022 compared with $236 in the third quarter of 2019, reflecting price increases.
In July 2022, the Consumer Price Index found that prices for flights, hotel rooms and dining out continued to rise. The largest spending category during the third quarter was accommodations ($6.9 billion), followed by vehicle operations ($5.4 billion) and restaurants and bars ($4.2 billion).
In the third quarter, Canadian residents spent $2.5 billion on commercial transportation, up from $1.7 billion during the same quarter in 2021. Likewise, expenditures on recreation ($1.4 billion) and entertainment ($1.2 billion) both exceeded their pre-pandemic levels in the third quarter of 2019 ($1.1 billion each).
Trip activities in the third quarter of 2022 reflected the easing of COVID-19 restrictions, allowing greater attendance at events and more varied summer excursions. However, some activities remained below the levels recorded in the third quarter of 2019, such as attending festivals or fairs (-32.0%) and visiting a historic site (-22.4%).
Solo or small group outdoor activities remained popular during the third quarter of 2022. For instance, Canadian residents reported hiking or backpacking (+19.5%) and visiting a national, provincial, or nature park (+10.4%) at rates above the same quarter in 2019.
Travel Stateside slower to recover
With travel restrictions easing at the border, Canadian residents made 5.5 million trips to the United States in the third quarter of 2022. While much higher when compared with the third quarter of 2021, the volume represents less than three-quarters (73.3%) of the 7.5 million trips taken during the same quarter in 2019.
Compared with the third quarter of 2021, trips during the third quarter of 2022 were shorter but more frequent. Canadian residents spent an average of $970 per trip, with an average length of 3.4 nights to the United States. However, with more trips, the $5.3 billion in total spending when visiting the United States was significantly higher in the third quarter of 2022 than the $545.9 million spent in the third quarter of 2021.
Spending by Canadian residents in the United States on accommodation ($2.0 billion) and in restaurants and bars ($990.5 million) led the way in the third quarter of 2022. Among trip purposes, holiday, leisure, or recreation (3.0 million trips) and visiting friends or relatives (1.1 million trips) were the most reported.
Overseas travel recovering
During the third quarter, Canadian residents returned from nearly 1.7 million trips overseas, significantly more trips than in the third quarter of 2021 (638,600). In fact, overseas trips recovered over two-thirds (67.6%) of the trips taken during the same quarter of 2019.
Most Canadian residents travelled overseas for holiday, leisure, or recreation purposes (941,400) and to visit friends or relatives (559,100) in the third quarter of 2022.
Of the over $4.1 billion spent overseas by Canadian travellers in the third quarter, the two largest spending categories were accommodation ($1.6 billion) and restaurants and bars ($873.3 million).
The top three overseas countries that Canadian residents visited during the third quarter were France (240,000 visits), Mexico (197,000 visits) and the United Kingdom (194,000 visits).
Cruise vacations resume
As a final note, with travel restrictions having eased in the third quarter, many cruise vacations resumed. Spending on cruises to the United States and overseas increased sharply from $1.5 million in the third quarter of 2021 to $110.7 million in the third quarter of 2022, surpassing the pre-pandemic $98.1 million from the same quarter in 2019.
Products
Data from the third 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 (NTS) collects information about the domestic and international travel of Canadian residents.
Please note that revisions were made to all four quarters of the 2021 NTS estimates. While overall impacts are marginal, they will be more discernible for some smaller geographies and specific trip types.
All spending estimates are based on visit expenditures, and domestic visit expenditures now 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.
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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