Travel between Canada and other countries, May 2023
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Released: 2023-07-21
Highlights
In May, the number of non-resident visitors to Canada and returning Canadian residents accounted for 83.6% of the level observed in May 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Residents of overseas countries took 545,300 trips to Canada in May 2023, and US residents took 1.8 million trips. At the same time, Canadian residents returned from 3.9 million trips abroad.
To further explore current and historical data in an interactive format, please visit the Frontier Counts: Interactive Dashboard.
COVID-19 travel advisories
On May 5, 2023, the World Health Organization declared that COVID-19 is now an established and ongoing health issue which no longer constitutes a public health emergency of international concern. There are currently no public health-related travel advisories to Canada in effect.
Overseas visitors to Canada
In May 2023, 545,300 overseas residents arrived in Canada, up 72.9% from the 315,400 overseas arrivals in May 2022 and reaching over four-fifths (80.9%) of those during the same month in 2019, before the pandemic.
Over two-fifths (219,200) of overseas visitors arrived from Europe in May 2023, up 33.6% from May 2022 (164,000) and reaching more than three-quarters (78.6%) of the visits to Canada by European residents in May 2019 (278,700).
The number of overseas visitors from Asia was 182,000 in May 2023, which more than doubled that from May 2022 (72,600) and represents over three-quarters (76.6%) of the number of such visitors observed in May 2019 (237,600).
US-resident trips to Canada
In May 2023, US residents took 1.8 million trips to Canada, up 64.6% from the 1.1 million trips taken in May 2022 and reaching more than four-fifths (85.8%) of those taken the same month in 2019.
Total US-resident arrivals by land (1.2 million) increased 72.0% from May 2022 (712,800). Of arrivals by land, 1.1 million were trips taken by automobile, 57,200 by bus, 17,800 by train, and 21,900 by pedestrians. Almost half (48.7%) of arrivals by automobile were same-day returns.
Canadian-resident trips to the United States
Canadian residents returned from 3.1 million trips to the United States in May 2023, increasing by 42.5% from the trips taken in May 2022 (2.2 million) and reaching 84.1% of the level from the same month in 2019.
Of the total return trips by Canadian residents in May 2023, 2.1 million were by automobile, nearly two-thirds (62.7%) of which were same-day returns (1.3 million).
The number of Canadian-resident return trips from the United States by air was 902,500, increasing 52.1% from the 592,200 trips recorded in May 2022. In May 2023, the number of return trips by air was 12.0% higher than its pre-pandemic level observed in 2019.
Canadian residents travelling overseas
In May 2023, Canadian residents took 764,000 return trips overseas, up 17.1% from the same month in 2022 (652,400). The number of Canadian-resident trips overseas in May 2023 recovered 78.7% of its pre-pandemic May 2019 level (971,300).
Cruise vacations resume
In May 2023, vacations by cruise continued to gain popularity, as Canadian residents took 43,600 cruise trips, up 38.4% from May 2019. US residents took 179,500 trips in May 2023, exceeding the 130,800 such trips taken in the same month in 2019 by 37.2%. Overseas residents took 31,000 trips by cruise in May 2023, reaching 78.4% of the 39,500 trips reported in May 2019.
Note to readers
Complete Frontier Counts data are now available for March 2023 and tables 24-10-0050-01, 24-10-0051-01, 24-10-0053-01, 24-10-0054-01, and 24-10-0055-01 have been updated.
To align with the variant of the Standard Classification of Countries and Areas of Interest 2019 for travel statistics, the following territories have been realigned: British Indian Ocean Territory, Eastern Africa; Christmas Island, Micronesia; Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Micronesia; and Norfolk Island, Melanesia.
Additional levels of aggregation for traveller characteristics are now available in table 24-10-0053-01.
Starting with the January 2022 release, all estimates, including those in Table 1, are based on unadjusted counts only. Seasonally adjusted data continue to be available online in tables 24-10-0051-01 and 24-10-0054-01.
Seasonally adjusted data for February 2023 to April 2023 have been revised. No revisions were made to data that were not seasonally adjusted.
For more current estimates of international arrivals to Canada, please see the "Leading indicator of international arrivals to Canada" for the June 2023 reference month.
Readers are encouraged to review the concepts, definitions, data sources, methods and summary of changes for Frontier Counts, as well as explanatory notes for online tables, especially when making historical comparisons and examining specific regions.
Overseas countries refer to countries other than Canada or the United States.
A Canadian resident visitor is a Canadian resident traveller whose trip purpose outside Canada is related to tourism and whose trip duration is less than one year.
A non-resident visitor is a traveller to Canada whose country of residence is not Canada, whose trip purpose is related to tourism and whose trip duration is less than one year.
Products
The May 2023 issue of International Travel: Advance Information (66-001-P) is now available.
The product "Frontier Counts: Interactive Dashboard," part of the Data Visualization Products series (71-607-X), is also available.
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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