Travel between Canada and other countries, February 2026
Released: 2026-04-23
3,326,206
February 2026
-5.5% 
(12-month change)
1,478,633
February 2026
6.3% 
(12-month change)
3,637,252
February 2026
1.6%
(monthly change)
2,563,217
February 2026
-0.5%
(monthly change)
Highlights
In February, the number of Canadian-resident return trips from the United States decreased 12.5% year over year, while the number of trips to Canada by US residents increased 5.9%.
In contrast, the number of Canadian-resident return trips from overseas (+6.8%) and the number of trips to Canada by overseas residents (+7.5%) increased compared with the same month a year earlier.
On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, the number of Canadian-resident return trips from abroad (from the United States and overseas countries) was up 1.6% in February, while US-resident arrivals (-0.5%) and overseas-resident arrivals (-0.4%) edged down.
Trips abroad by Canadian residents continue to decrease
Canadian residents returned from 3.3 million trips abroad in February 2026, down 5.5% compared with the same month in 2025.
In February 2026, Canadian residents returned from 2.0 million trips to the United States, representing a 12.5% decrease from the same month a year earlier and marking the 14th consecutive month of year-over-year decline. Canadian-resident return trips from the United States by automobile declined 12.3% to 1.2 million in February. Of these arrivals, 70.8% were same-day trips. In addition, the number of return trips by air from the United States (749,500) decreased 12.0% compared with February 2025.
In contrast, Canadian-resident return trips from overseas countries (1.4 million) were up 6.8% on a year-over-year basis in February 2026. This level exceeded the number of return trips from the United States by automobile (1.2 million) for the second consecutive month, marking the second time since the digital Frontier Counts records began in 1972 (excluding the COVID-19 pandemic period).
Chart 1
Year-over-year change in the number of Canadian residents returning to Canada from trips abroad, February 2026
Trips to Canada by United States residents increase
In February 2026, US-resident trips to Canada (1.1 million) increased 5.9% from the same month in 2025 and marked the second year-over-year gain following a downward trend that began in February 2025.
Arrivals by automobile (830,700) were up 6.8% year over year in February 2026, with 55.7% of these arrivals being same-day trips. Furthermore, arrivals by air (279,000) increased 4.8% year over year.
Chart 2
Year-over-year change in the number of US visitors entering Canada, by province or territory of arrival, February 2026
Trips to Canada by overseas residents increase
In February 2026, 338,100 overseas residents arrived in Canada, up 7.5% from the same month a year earlier and representing a rebound from the decline recorded in January. The majority (91.1%) of these arrivals were by air in February.
By volume, arrivals from Asia (+16,200; +17.4%), were the primary drivers of the year-over-year increase in overseas-resident arrivals in February. There was a notable increase in visitors from China, Taiwan, and South Korea.
Meanwhile, the top three countries of residence for overseas visitors were France, the United Kingdom, and Mexico, accounting for 31.7% of all overseas arrivals in Canada.
Chart 3
Overseas visitors entering Canada, by continent of residence, January 2019 to February 2026
Seasonally adjusted arrivals
Tourism is influenced by seasonal and calendar effects. All statistics in this section are based on seasonally adjusted data (for more information, see the Note to readers).
On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, the number of Canadian-resident return trips from abroad rose 1.6% in February, driven by an increase in Canadian-resident return trips by automobile from the United States (+3.0%).
Chart 4
Canadian residents returning to Canada and non-resident visitors entering Canada, January 2019 to February 2026, seasonally adjusted data
The overall number of arrivals in Canada by US residents saw a modest decrease (-0.5%) on a seasonally adjusted monthly basis in February, driven by a decrease in arrivals by air (-1.4%).
In February, the number of overseas-resident arrivals in Canada edged down 0.4% on a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, attributable to fewer visitors from all continents except for Asia (+1.8%). At the country level, the overall monthly decrease in February was driven by fewer visitors from Germany, India, and Mexico.
Chart 5
Overseas visitors entering Canada, by continent of residence, January 2019 to February 2026, seasonally adjusted data
Focus on Canada and the United States
Starting in early 2025, travel trends among Canadian residents shifted alongside the political tensions between Canada and the United States. In February 2026, Canadian residents returned from 2.0 million trips to the United States, representing a 12.5% decrease from the same month in 2025 and marking the 14th consecutive month of year-over-year decline. When comparing the number of trips in February 2026 with February 2024, a sharper decline of 27.1% is observed, driven by fewer trips by automobile (-32.0%) and by air (-16.8%).
Meanwhile, US residents took 1.1 million trips to Canada in February 2026, up 5.9% from the same month in 2025. When comparing February 2026 with February 2024, the number of trips was up slightly (+1.1%) because of an increase in trips by air (+8.6%).
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.
Chart 6
Travel between Canada and the United States, by air and by automobile, February, 2024 to 2026
Explore tourism data
To further explore current and historical data in an interactive format, see Frontier Counts: Interactive Dashboard.
For more current estimates of international arrivals to Canada, please see the release, "Leading indicator of international arrivals to Canada."
For other tourism-related information, see the Travel and Tourism Statistics portal.
Note to readers
Unless otherwise specified, this release uses unadjusted (raw) data.
Seasonal adjustment
Tourism is influenced by seasonal effects (e.g., actual seasons and holidays such as Canada Day and Thanksgiving) and calendar effects (e.g., number of weekends in a month). Seasonally adjusted data are data that have been modified to eliminate the effect of seasonal and calendar influences to allow for more meaningful comparisons of economic conditions from period to period. For more information on seasonal adjustment, see Seasonally adjusted data – Frequently asked questions.
Data source upgrade — deployment of Primary Inspection Kiosks at John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport
Primary Inspection Kiosks were deployed at John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport on February 3, 2026, replacing the Integrated Primary Inspection Line – Air (IPIL Air) system as the main data source for this port of entry. This change is reflected in "Travel between Canada and other countries" starting with the February 2026 reference month and has minimal impact on the data.
Data enhancements — additional electronic data sources
With the release of the January 2026 reference month for "Travel between Canada and other countries," Statistics Canada has integrated information on travellers processed through the Canada Border Services Agency's Next Generation Handhelds. Statistics Canada has also implemented the Operational Reporting Application and the second phase of the IPIL Air system for selected ports. This integration improves the accuracy of Frontier Counts by addressing existing data gaps for travellers at some ports of entry. It also eliminates the reliance on paper E311 declaration forms.
For additional information, see Summary of changes page.
Revisions
Seasonally adjusted data for January 2025 to January 2026 have been revised. No revisions were made to the unadjusted data.
Next release
"Travel between Canada and other countries" for March will be released on May 21.
Products
The product "Frontier Counts: Interactive Dashboard," part of the Data Visualization Products series (71-607-X), is available.
The article "Recent changes in Canadian-resident travel to the United States" is available.
The StatsCAN Plus article "Canada's cruise industry even keeled in 2025" and its accompanying infographic "Cruise ship tourism in Canada, 2025" are available.
Episode 27 of the Eh Sayers podcast, "Canadians just aren't California Dreamin' these days," 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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