Travel between Canada and other countries, October 2023
Released: 2023-12-21
Highlights
In October, the number of non-resident visitors to Canada accounted for 88.3% of the number observed in October 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, the number of returning Canadian residents reached 90.8% of the level recorded in October 2019.
Residents of overseas countries took 509,800 trips to Canada in October 2023, and US residents took 1.6 million trips. At the same time, Canadian residents returned from 3.9 million trips abroad.
Although the cruise ship season in Canada has come to an end, cruise vacations recorded another monthly high with 162,100 total arrivals in Canada by cruise ships in October.
To further explore current and historical data in an interactive format, please visit the Frontier Counts: Interactive Dashboard.
Overseas arrivals in Canada
In October, 509,800 overseas residents arrived in Canada, up 38.8% from the 367,200 overseas arrivals in October 2022, reaching 89.7% of such arrivals recorded in October 2019 (568,500), before the pandemic.
Nearly half (45.1%) of overseas visitors were from Europe in October 2023 (230,100), up 17.5% from October 2022 (195,800) and reaching 88.7% of the trips to Canada by European residents recorded in October 2019 (259,300).
The number of overseas visitors from Asia was 150,300 in October 2023, up sharply from the 87,200 such visitors in October 2022 and representing nearly four-fifths (79.0%) of those recorded in October 2019 (190,200).
The majority of overseas visitors to Canada in October 2023 were residents of the United Kingdom (63,500), France (63,300) and Mexico (38,100).
US-resident trips to Canada
In October, US residents took 1.6 million trips to Canada, up 17.2% from the 1.4 million trips taken in October 2022 and reaching 87.8% of trips taken during the same month in 2019 (1.9 million).
Total US-resident arrivals by land (1.1 million) increased by 14.7% from October 2022 (964,300). Of arrivals by land in October 2023, 1.1 million were by automobile, 33,000 by bus, 13,900 by pedestrians, and 6,900 by train. Over half (52.7%) of arrivals by automobile were same-day returns (554,000).
Canadian-resident trips to the United States
Canadian residents returned from 3.1 million trips to the United States in October, increasing 12.7% from October 2022 (2.8 million) and reaching 89.4% of such trips taken during the same month in 2019 (3.5 million).
Of the total return trips by Canadian residents in October 2023, 2.2 million were by automobile, nearly two-thirds (64.9%) of which were same-day returns (1.4 million).
The number of Canadian-resident return trips from the United States by air was 855,600, decreasing 1.4% from the 867,600 trips recorded in October 2022. However, in October 2023, the number of Canadian-resident return trips from the United States by air was 4.9% higher than the pre-pandemic level observed in October 2019 (815,500).
Canadian residents travelling overseas
In October 2023, Canadian residents took 768,700 return trips overseas, increasing 56.6% from the same month in 2022 (490,800). The number of return-trips by Canadian residents overseas in October 2023 corresponded to 97.3% of its pre-pandemic level recorded in October 2019 (790,400).
Cruise season comes to a close
Due to the end of the 2023 cruise season for most operators, total cruise arrivals in Canada dropped from 355,400 passengers in September to 162,100 in October. This number, however, remained higher than that of trips recorded in October 2022 (122,100). Canadian residents took 14,700 cruise trips in October 2023, exceeding the pre-pandemic cruises taken in October 2019 (9,000) by 63.7%. US residents took 122,800 cruise trips arriving in Canada in October 2023, surpassing the 83,500 trips taken in the same month in 2019 by 47.0%. Overseas residents took 24,600 trips arriving in Canada by cruise in October 2023, reaching 99.5% of those reported in October 2019 (24,800).
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Note to readers
Additional information regarding data for September 2023 was made available to the Frontier Counts program, resulting in revisions to tables 24-10-0050-01, 24-10-0053-01 and 24-100055-01.
Further information regarding the May to July 2023 data was also made available, resulting in updates to tables 24-10-0050-01, 24-10-0051-01, 24-10-0052-01, 24-10-0053-01, 24-10-0054-01 and 24-10-0055-01 with the August 2023 release.
Beginning 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 December 2022 to September 2023 have been revised.
For more current estimates of international arrivals to Canada, please see the "Leading indicator of international arrivals to Canada" for the November 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 October 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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