Leading indicator of international arrivals to Canada, June 2024
Released: 2024-07-10
Highlights
In June, the preliminary number of international arrivals to Canada by air and automobile increased 10.4% from June 2023.
By air, the number of non-resident arrivals in Canada totalled 1.3 million in June 2024, up 7.4% year over year. Meanwhile, the number of Canadian-resident return trips from abroad reached 1.3 million, a 12.2% increase from June 2023.
By automobile, US residents took 1.6 million trips to Canada in June 2024, up 8.7% from the same month in 2023. The number of Canadian-resident return trips from the United States also rose, up 12.5% year over year to 2.0 million trips in June 2024.
All statistics in this release are based on the primary data sources for air and automobile arrivals (see Note to readers). To further explore current and historical data in an interactive format, please visit the Frontier Counts: Interactive Dashboard.
Non-resident trips to Canada by air
In June, non-resident arrivals in Canada by air totalled 1.3 million, up 7.4% year over year. These included arrivals by US residents (670,200) and residents of countries other than the United States (587,000). Over the long weekend which included Canada Day, celebrated on Monday, July 1, an average of 26,600 US-resident arrivals per day was observed from Friday, June 28 to Sunday, June 30. This average was 19.3% higher than the daily average of the remaining Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays in June (22,300).
When data from Toronto Pearson International Airport Terminal 1 are excluded from the total arrivals (see Note to readers), non-resident arrivals in June were 1.4% higher than the level observed in June 2019, prior to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Infographic 1
Trips to Canada by commercial aircraft, by country of residence, June 2024
Chart 1
Non-resident trips to Canada by commercial aircraft, June, 2019 to 2024
Canadian-resident return trips by air
In June, Canadian-resident return trips from abroad by air stood at 1.3 million, up 12.2% from one year earlier. In June, the highest daily average of Canadian arrivals was observed on Sundays (50,200), while the lowest daily average was observed on Thursdays (37,600).
When arrivals at Toronto Pearson International Airport Terminal 1 are excluded from the total arrivals (see Note to readers), the number of return trips in June was 11.8% higher than the 850,500 trips recorded in June 2019, before the pandemic.
Chart 2
Canadian-resident return trips from abroad by commercial aircraft, June, 2019 to 2024
US-resident trips to Canada by automobile
In June, the number of US-resident trips to Canada by automobile reached 1.6 million, up 8.7% from the 1.4 million trips recorded in the same month in 2023. During Canada Day weekend in 2024, there was an average of 79,400 US-resident arrivals per day from Saturday, June 29 to Sunday, June 30. This surpassed the daily average of the four remaining Saturdays and Sundays in June (58,300) by 36.1%.
The total number of arrivals by automobile in June represented 92.2% of the total observed in June 2019.
Infographic 2
Trips to Canada by automobile, by country of residence, June 2024
Chart 3
United States-resident trips to Canada by automobile, June, 2019 to 2024
Canadian-resident return trips by automobile
In June, the number of Canadian-resident return trips from visiting the United States by automobile totalled 2.0 million, an increase of 12.5% compared with the same month one year earlier. On Sunday, June 30, before Canada Day, there were 121,400 Canadian-resident return trips by automobile, exceeding the daily average of the remainder of the month (64,200) by 89.1%.
In June, the number of Canadian-resident return trips by automobile reached 88.1% of the 2.3 million trips observed in the same month in 2019.
Chart 4
Canadian-resident return trips from the United States by automobile, June, 2019 to 2024
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Note to readers
This release provides an early indicator of travel based on preliminary data on international arrivals to Canada in June 2024. Complete counts for the June reference month will be available with the release of "Travel between Canada and other countries" on August 23, 2024.
All counts of arrivals by air are from commercial aircraft and are produced exclusively using Primary Inspection Kiosk (PIK) data received from the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA). PIKs were deployed at Toronto Pearson International Airport Terminal 1 on June 22, 2021, and, as of July 2021, these arrivals are included in the total counts, which has consequently improved coverage. In 2023, PIKs captured 91.2% of all commercial air arrivals.
Counts of arrivals entering the country by automobile through land ports equipped with the CBSA's automated Integrated Primary Inspection Line (IPIL) system represent a subset of US-resident trips and Canadian-resident return trips by automobile. In 2023, IPIL land ports captured 89.1% of all automobile entries.
Readers are encouraged to review the concepts, definitions, data sources, and methods for Frontier Counts, especially when making historical comparisons and examining specific regions.
Select estimates from the Canadian Tourism Activity Tracker for April 2024 are available upon request.
Products
The product "Frontier Counts: Interactive Dashboard," part of the Data Visualization Products series (71-607-X), is 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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