Travel between Canada and other countries, August 2026
Released: 2026-10-22
4,418,005
August 2026
6.0% 
(12-month change)
4,222,163
August 2026
4.6%
(12-month change)
3,698,714
August 2026
0.2%
(monthly change)
2,714,881
August 2026
2.9%
(monthly change)
Highlights
In August, the number of Canadian-resident return trips from the United States increased 9.3% year over year, while trips to Canada by US residents rose 4.3%.
The number of Canadian-resident return trips from overseas in August decreased 2.0% compared with the same month a year earlier. Meanwhile, trips to Canada by overseas residents increased 5.6%.
Using seasonally adjusted data, the number of Canadian-resident return trips from abroad (from the United States and overseas countries) in August edged up 0.2% compared with July. As well, the number of US-resident arrivals (+3.4%) and overseas-resident arrivals (+1.2%) increased in August.
Trips by Canadian residents to the United States continue to grow, while trips to overseas countries decline
Canadian-resident return trips from abroad reached 4.4 million in August, up 6.0% from a year earlier and marking the fifth straight month of year-over-year increase.
In August, Canadian residents returned from 3.2 million trips to the United States, up 9.3% year over year. This marked the fifth consecutive month of growth following 15 consecutive months of year-over-year decreases. Even with this increase, Canadian-resident return trips from the United States in August 2026 were 23.2% below their August 2024 level.
In August 2026, Canadian-resident return trips from the United States by automobile rose 10.5% compared with the same month one year earlier to reach 2.4 million, with 57.8% of these being same-day trips. Return trips by air increased 4.8% year over year to 637,800, marking the second consecutive increase since August 2023. At the same time, return trips by cruise ship in August 2026 fell 4.6% from the previous year to 32,200.
Canadian residents made a total of 1.2 million return trips from overseas countries in August, down 2.0% from the same month a year earlier.
Chart 1
Number of Canadian residents returning from abroad, by mode of transportation, August, 2024 to 2026
Trips to Canada by United States residents continue to increase
In August, US-resident trips to Canada totalled 3.3 million, up 4.3% from the same month in 2025 and marking the seventh consecutive month of year-over-year increases.
Arrivals by automobile rose 1.6% year over year to 2.0 million in August 2026, with 52.9% of these being overnight trips. As well, arrivals by air increased 7.1% to 701,800, while the number of US residents who disembarked in Canada from cruise ships rose 6.5% to 352,100 on a year-over-year basis.
Chart 2
Year-over-year change in the number of United States residents entering Canada, by province or territory of arrival, August 2026
Gordie Howe International Bridge
On July 27, 2026, the Gordie Howe International Bridge opened, spanning the Detroit River between Windsor, Ontario, and Detroit, Michigan. It complements Windsor's existing two border crossings, the Ambassador Bridge and the Windsor-Detroit Tunnel, which together are Canada's busiest land crossings.
From August 1 to 31, 168,000 returning Canadian residents and 110,800 US residents entered Canada by automobile via the Gordie Howe International Bridge. Another 10,600 Canadian residents returned to Canada by other modes, while 11,000 US residents entered Canada by other modes. Examples of other modes include by bus, by motorcycle, and by foot.
Trips to Canada by overseas residents increase
In August, 935,300 overseas residents arrived in Canada, up 5.6% from the same month one year earlier. The majority (79.9%) of these arrivals were by air.
By volume, arrivals from Europe (+43,400; +9.3%) and Asia (+11,000; +5.4%) drove the year-over-year increase in overseas-resident arrivals in August. These increases more than offset the decreases in arrivals from Oceania (-3,800; -7.3%) and the Americas (excluding the United States) (-2,900; -2.3%).
In August, the top three countries of residence for overseas visitors were the United Kingdom, France and Germany, which together accounted for 33.7% of all overseas arrivals in Canada.
Chart 3
Overseas visitors entering Canada, by continent of residence, January 2019 to August 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 monthly basis, the number of Canadian-resident return trips from abroad edged up 0.2% in August, driven by modest increases in return trips from overseas (+0.2%) and the United States (+0.2%).
Chart 4
Canadian residents returning to Canada and non-resident visitors entering Canada, January 2019 to August 2026, seasonally adjusted data
The overall number of arrivals in Canada by US residents increased 3.4% in August compared with the previous month, reflecting increases in arrivals by both automobile (+4.7%) and air (+2.5%).
In August, the number of overseas-resident arrivals in Canada increased by 1.2% compared with July, driven by an increase in arrivals from Asia (+6.6%). At the country level, the overall monthly gain was led by increases in visitors from India and Israel, offsetting decreases in visitors from Mexico and the United Kingdom.
Chart 5
Overseas visitors entering Canada, by continent of residence, January 2019 to August 2026, seasonally adjusted data
Explore tourism data
To further explore current and historical data in an interactive format, see the product 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.
For more information on concepts, definitions, data sources and methods, refer to Frontier Counts.
Data availability – Gordie Howe International Bridge
The Gordie Howe International Bridge, connecting Windsor, Ontario, and Detroit, Michigan, opened on July 27. Comprehensive data on entries to Canada at this port of entry for August are available through data tables 24-10-0052-01, 24-10-0053-01 and 24-10-0055-01. For additional information, see the Summary of changes webpage.
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 Seasonal adjustment: Concepts and interpretation, 2026.
Revisions
Seasonally adjusted data for May to July 2026 have been revised. No revisions were made to the unadjusted data.
Integrated Primary Inspection Line – Air integration
In 2025, Statistics Canada integrated information about travellers processed through the Canada Border Services Agency's Integrated Primary Inspection Line – Air (IPIL Air) system into the Frontier Counts. Users are advised to exercise caution when comparing 2025 and 2026 reference months with previous years, as published data before 2025 do not include IPIL Air.
For users who would like to make year-over-year comparisons, selected supplementary time series with IPIL Air data for reference years 2023 and 2024 are available upon request.
Next release
The release "Travel between Canada and other countries" for September will be released on November 23.
Products
The product "Frontier Counts: Interactive Dashboard," part of the Data Visualization Products series (71-607-X), is available.
The article "Canadian-resident travel to the United States: A year in review" 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.
The infographic "Tourism activity, 2025" 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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