National Travel Survey and Visitor Travel Survey, third quarter 2025
Released: 2026-02-24
108.9 million
Third quarter 2025
-0.4% 
(year-over-year change)
9.1 million
Third quarter 2025
-24.4%
(year-over-year change)
11.2 million
Third quarter 2025
0.1% 
(year-over-year change)
$12.8 billion
Third quarter 2025
8.9%
(year-over-year change)
$11.0 billion
Third quarter 2025
-8.6%
(year-over-year change)
$30.5 billion
Third quarter 2025
11.1%
(year-over-year change)
Highlights
During the third quarter, Canadian residents took 117.7 million trips within Canada and abroad, down 2.8% from the same quarter in 2024. From July to September 2025, visitors from the United States and overseas countries made 11.2 million trips to Canada, showing little change (+0.1%) compared with the third quarter of 2024.
Domestic tourism: Canadian-resident overnight visits within Canada increase
In the third quarter of 2025, Canadian residents took 108.9 million trips that included a domestic visit, down slightly by 0.4% on a year-over-year basis. Among these visits, 64.0 million were same-day visits (-2.5%), while 44.9 million were overnight visits (+2.6%). Visits were longer compared with the third quarter of 2024, as the average number of nights increased by 4.4% in the third quarter of 2025.
From July to September, Canadian residents spent $30.5 billion on domestic tourism, up 11.1% year over year. For same-day visits, Canadian residents spent an average of $116 per visit. For overnight visits, Canadian residents spent an average of $513 per visit, and the average visit length was 3.4 nights. The increase in domestic tourism spending coincided with the introduction of the Canada Strong Pass.
Chart 1
Domestic visits by Canadian residents, by main trip purpose and visit duration, third quarter 2025
Chart 2
Proportion of visits and expenditures by Canadian residents within Canada, by province or territory of visit, third quarter 2025
Outbound tourism: Canadian-resident visits to the United States decrease, while visits to overseas countries increase
In the third quarter, Canadian residents made 9.1 million trips that included a visit abroad, down 24.4% from the same quarter in 2024.
Canadian residents took 5.9 million trips that included an outbound visit to the United States in the third quarter of 2025, a steep decline of 34.7% year over year. Among these visits, 41.1% were same-day visits. Expenditures during visits to the United States totalled $4.2 billion, a decline of 24.0% from the third quarter of 2024. In the United States, Canadian residents spent an average of $148 per same-day visit in the third quarter of 2025. For overnight stays, Canadian residents spent an average of $1,098 per visit, and the average visit length was 5.3 nights.
From July to September, Canadian residents took 3.3 million trips that included an outbound visit to an overseas country (+7.1% year over year) and spent $6.9 billion overseas (+4.2%). On average, Canadian residents spent $2,094 per visit, and the average visit length was 13.5 nights.
Italy (366,000 visits) was the most visited overseas country by Canadian residents in the third quarter, followed by France (332,000) and the United Kingdom (311,000). Compared with the same quarter a year earlier, a greater number of Canadian residents visited Japan (+109,000, for a total of 201,000 visits) and Cuba (+76,000; 173,000 visits). Meanwhile, fewer Canadian residents visited Germany (-67,000, for a total of 98,000 visits) and Spain (-60,000; 136,000 visits).
Chart 3
Top 10 overseas countries visited by Canadian residents, by age group, third quarter 2025
Inbound tourism: US visitors to Canada decrease, while overseas visitors increase
In the third quarter, visitors from abroad made 11.2 million trips to Canada, showing little change (+0.1%) from the same quarter in 2024.
US residents took 8.5 million trips to Canada in the third quarter of 2025, down 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. However, while visiting Canada, US residents spent a total of $7.2 billion (+8.3%), resulting in higher expenditures per trip (+10.9%). Among the trips, 40.7% were same-day trips, and US residents spent an average of $172 per same-day trip. For overnight trips, they spent an average of $1,294 per trip, with an average trip length of 5.3 nights.
From July to September, overseas residents took 2.6 million trips to Canada, up 9.1% from the same quarter in 2024. Spending by overseas residents to Canada totalled $5.7 billion (+9.7%) in the third quarter of 2025. These visitors spent an average of $2,169 per trip, and the average trip length was 16.4 nights.
The United Kingdom (382,000 trips) was the source of the most overseas visitors to Canada in the third quarter, followed by France (280,000) and Germany (177,000). The countries with the largest year-over-year volume increases were China (+29,000, for a total of 136,000 trips) and the United Kingdom (+23,000; 382,000 trips). Meanwhile, a decline was seen in the number of visitors from Brazil (-6,000, for a total of 45,000 trips).
Chart 4
Trips by US and overseas residents to Canada, by main trip purpose, third quarter 2025
Chart 5
Expenditures by US and overseas residents in Canada, by expenditure category, third quarter 2025
Focus on Canada and the United States
During the third quarter of 2025, Canadian residents took 5.9 million trips that included a visit to the United States, down 34.7% from the third quarter of 2024.
US residents took 8.5 million trips to Canada from July to September 2025, down 2.3% compared with the same quarter in 2024.
For more data and insights on areas touched by the socio-economic relationship between Canada and the United States, see the Focus on Canada and the United States webpage.
Explore tourism data
To further explore current and historical data in an interactive format, see Frontier Counts: Interactive Dashboard.
Recent data on international travel to Canada are available in the monthly "Travel between Canada and other countries" release.
For other tourism-related information, see the Travel and Tourism Statistics portal.
Note to readers
This consolidated quarterly release covers the following surveys:
- National Travel Survey, which collects information about the domestic and outbound travel of Canadian residents.
- Visitor Travel Survey, which collects information on inbound tourism.
Readers are encouraged to review the concepts, definitions, data sources, methods, limitations and summary of changes for these surveys, especially when making historical comparisons and examining specific regions.
Concepts
A trip can include one or more visits, with the number of visits always being equal to or greater than the number of trips.
A domestic visit is defined as a visit within Canada by a Canadian resident during a domestic or outbound trip. An outbound visit is defined as a visit outside of Canada by a Canadian resident during a domestic or outbound trip.
Data
All estimates in this release are preliminary.
All data in this release are expressed in current dollars unless otherwise noted.
The data in this release are not seasonally adjusted.
This analysis presented in The Daily includes trip, visit and night information for all travellers (including individuals younger than 18 years old).
National Travel Survey
As of the 2025 reference year, on-board cruise ship spending is included in the "other expenditures" category in published tables. Prior to 2025, on-board cruise ship spending was included in the total expenditures but not as a separate category, explaining why expenditure categories may not sum to total expenditures.
Visitor Travel Survey—Manitoba and Saskatchewan
The introduction of data collection at Winnipeg Richardson International Airport in May 2025 increased the estimates of visitors to the provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Users are advised to exercise caution when comparing 2025 reference periods with previous years. More information is available on Visitor Travel Survey.
Nunavut Air Exit Survey and Nunavut Cruise Exit Survey
Estimates from the Nunavut Air Exit Survey and the Nunavut Cruise Exit Survey, third quarter 2025, are available upon request. These surveys are a collaborative project between the Government of Nunavut's Department of Community Services and Statistics Canada to improve tourism statistics in Nunavut. For more information about this project, please contact us (tourism@statcan.gc.ca).
Canada Post service disruptions
Statistics Canada will monitor the impacts of any potential Canada Post service disruption on future releases.
Next release
The National Travel Survey and Visitor Travel Survey data for the fourth quarter of 2025 will be released on May 29, 2026.
Products
The articles titled "Visits down east: A mix of vacations, catching up with friends and family," "Visiting Quebec: An abundance of trips, some from great distances" and "Canadians are spending more on visits within Canada—here's the breakdown" are available on the StatsCAN Plus page.
Episode 27 of the Eh Sayers podcast, "Canadians just aren't California Dreamin' these days," is available.
The infographic titled, "Tourism activity, 2024" 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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