U.S. travel executives were worried an escalating trade war with Canada would cool the budding rebound in travel by Canadians.
But travel jumped 8.8% in August, according to figures released Friday by Statistics Canada, which measures return trips from the U.S. by Canadian-residents. It was the fifth straight month of year-over-year growth. Return trips by automobile and by air both registered increases — 9.9% and 3.6%, respectively.
Canadian travel to the U.S. still has a long way to fully recover to 2024 levels. Statistics Canada reported that return trips by automobile last month were 27.4% lower than two years ago, and return trips by air were down 22.7%.
The agency has said, in recent months, that the recent gains were due to a “base-year effect,” as visits had dropped so much that current increases are bouncing off a low base.
“Starting in early 2025, travel trends among Canadian residents shifted alongside the political te