National Travel Survey and Visitor Travel Survey, first quarter 2026
Released: 2026-08-25
69.1 million
First quarter 2026
2.3% 
(year-over-year change)
$14.5 billion
First quarter 2026
5.1%
(year-over-year change)
10.0 million
First quarter 2026
-3.3% 
(year-over-year change)
$15.1 billion
First quarter 2026
4.5%
(year-over-year change)
4.5 million
First quarter 2026
3.5%
(year-over-year change)
$5.0 billion
First quarter 2026
13.8%
(year-over-year change)
Highlights
During the first quarter of 2026, Canadian residents took 78.7 million trips within Canada and abroad, up 1.5% from the same quarter in 2025. From January to March 2026, visitors from the United States and overseas countries took 4.5 million trips to Canada, an increase of 3.5% compared with the first quarter of 2025.
Domestic tourism: Canadian-resident visits within Canada increase
In the first quarter of 2026, Canadian residents took 69.1 million trips that included a domestic visit, up by 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Among these visits, 48.8 million were same-day visits (+3.8%), while 20.4 million were overnight visits (-1.2%). Although the number of overnight visits declined, these visits were longer compared with the first quarter of 2025, as the average number of nights increased by 3.7% in the first quarter of 2026.
From January to March 2026, Canadian residents spent $14.5 billion on domestic tourism, up 5.1% year over year. For same-day visits, Canadian residents spent an average of $101 per visit. For overnight visits, Canadian residents spent an average of $471 per visit, and the average visit length was 2.8 nights.
Chart 1
Proportion of visits by Canadian residents in Canada and abroad, by main trip purpose, first quarter 2026
Chart 2
Proportion of visits and expenditures by Canadian residents within Canada, by province or territory of visit, first quarter 2026
Outbound tourism: Canadian-resident visits to the United States decrease, while visits to overseas countries increase
In the first quarter of 2026, Canadian residents took 10.0 million trips that included a visit abroad, down 3.3% from the same quarter in 2025.
Canadian residents took 5.5 million trips that included an outbound visit to the United States in the first quarter of 2026, a year-over-year decline of 10.6%. Among these visits, 37.5% were same-day visits. Expenditures during visits to the United States totalled $5.0 billion, down 13.6% from the first quarter of 2025. In the first quarter of 2026, Canadian residents spent an average of $206 per same-day visit in the United States. For overnight stays, Canadian residents spent an average of $1,344 per visit, and the average visit length was 7.9 nights.
From January to March, Canadian residents took 4.6 million trips that included an outbound visit to an overseas country (+6.2% year over year) and spent $10.1 billion overseas (+16.7%). On average, Canadian residents spent $2,210 per visit, and the average visit length was 13.3 nights.
Mexico (1.3 million visits) was the most visited overseas country by Canadian residents in the first quarter, followed by the Dominican Republic (441,000) and Costa Rica (193,000). For Costa Rica, this was the highest number of Canadian visitors recorded since at least 2018 (the year data collection started for the National Travel Survey), as more direct flights were offered from several Canadian airlines. Compared with the first quarter in 2025, a greater number of Canadian residents visited Japan (+79,000), France (+57,000) and Mexico (+51,000) in the first quarter of 2026.
Chart 3
Top 10 overseas countries visited by Canadian residents, by age group, first quarter 2026
Inbound tourism: Trips to Canada increase for both US and overseas visitors
In the first quarter of 2026, visitors from abroad took 4.5 million trips to Canada, up by 3.5% from the same quarter in 2025.
US residents took 3.6 million trips to Canada in the first quarter of 2026, an increase of 3.4% from the same quarter one year earlier. Among those trips, 42.8% were same-day trips. Over the same period, US residents increased their expenditures by 16.5% to $3.0 billion. US residents spent an average of $170 per same-day trip. For overnight trips, visitors from the United States spent an average of $1,323 per trip, with an average trip length of 5.4 nights.
From January to March, overseas residents took 990,000 trips to Canada, up 3.7% from the same quarter in 2025. Spending by overseas residents in Canada totalled $2.1 billion (+10.2%) in the first quarter of 2026. These visitors spent an average of $2,085 per trip, and the average trip length was 16.6 nights.
Chart 4
Expenditures by United States and overseas residents in Canada, by expenditure category, first quarter 2026
Among overseas countries, the United Kingdom (108,000 trips) had the most visitors to Canada in the first quarter, followed by Mexico (99,000) and France (94,000). The largest year-over-year increases in the number of visitors to Canada were recorded by Mexico (+14,000) and the United Kingdom (+10,000).
Chart 5
Year-over-year change in trips and expenditures made in Canada by visitors from the top 10 overseas countries, first quarter 2026
2025 review: Inbound tourism
In 2025, visitors from the United States and overseas countries took 29.6 million trips to Canada, down slightly by 0.7% compared with 2024. In 2025, US and overseas residents showed different trends: US residents took 22.8 million trips to Canada, down 3.0%, while overseas visitors took 6.8 million trips, up 7.5%.
Compared with 2019 levels—pre-COVID-19 pandemic—US residents took 8.8% fewer trips to Canada in 2025, while trips taken by overseas residents declined 8.5%.
Non-resident visitors to Canada spent $32.0 billion in 2025, an increase of 12.4% from 2024 and 36.7% from 2019.
For the 2025 review of domestic and outbound tourism, please consult the release National Travel Survey and Visitor Travel Survey, fourth quarter 2025.
New tables for the National Travel Survey are available
• 24-10-0079-01: Trips by Canadian residents travelling in Canada and abroad by geography of trip destination, main trip purpose and trip duration.
• 24-10-0080-01: Visits, nights and expenditures for Canadian residents travelling abroad by country of visit and main trip purpose.
• 24-10-0080-02: Most visited countries for Canadian residents travelling abroad, by main trip purpose.
• 24-10-0081-01: Visits, nights and expenditures for Canadian residents travelling abroad by country of visit and province of trip origin.
• 24-10-0081-02: Most visited countries for Canadian residents travelling abroad, by province of trip origin.
There are a few important conceptual differences in the new tables compared with estimates previously released in other National Travel Survey products.
Estimates for trips, visits and nights for all travellers (including individuals under 18 years) are included in the new tables.
Visit counts at higher geographical levels are tabulated so that only the first visit to a region on a trip is counted, rather than the sum of visits to lower levels of geography, unless otherwise noted in the table footnotes.
Nights and spending aboard cruise ships are excluded.
For additional information, see the Summary of changes webpage.
Explore tourism data
To further explore current and historical data in an interactive format, see Frontier Counts: Interactive Dashboard.
To view the latest releases, see Travel and tourism page.
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
For this release, the estimates for annual inbound tourism are final, while all other estimates are preliminary.
All data in this release are expressed in current dollars unless otherwise noted.
The data in this release are not seasonally adjusted.
Please note that Table 24-10-0045-01, "Travel by Canadian residents in Canada and abroad by trip purpose," is now archived. It has been replaced by the new Table 24-10-0079-01, "Trips by Canadian residents travelling in Canada and abroad by geography of trip destination, main trip purpose and trip duration," which contains all the historical data from the archived table. Users may contact tourism@statcan.gc.ca for additional information.
Next release
The National Travel Survey and Visitor Travel Survey data for the second quarter of 2026 will be released on November 30.
Products
The article "Canadian-resident travel to the United States: A year in review" is available.
The article titled "Love sports, will travel" is available on the StatsCAN Plus page.
The infographic "Nunavut tourism, July to September 2025" is available.
A public use microdata file for the National Travel Survey, for reference year 2024, is available (24250001).
A public use microdata file for the Air Exit Survey, component of the Visitor Travel Survey, for reference year 2024, is also available (24250002).
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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