For the seventh consecutive month, Canadians took their tourism dollars elsewhere in July 2025 and said no to heading south of the border.
In July, the number of Canadian residents returning from the United States was down to 2.6 million, marking a 32.4 per cent decrease compared with July 2024, Statistics Canada said in a new report Tuesday.
Meanwhile, 3.3 million U.S. residents made the trip to Canada in July, a drop of three per cent compared with July last year.
This marked only the second month since June 2006, excluding August and September 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic, that more Americans visited Canada than the other way around.
Canadians chose to spend their money elsewhere as the number of Canadian resident return trips from overseas increased 8.3 per cent.
U.S. trips accounted for 65 per cent of all trips by Canadians abroad. This meant that total travel by Canadians abroad, including to the U.S., declined by 24.2 per cent.
Foreign overseas tourists flocked to Canada in higher numbers, however, as the number of trips to Canada by overseas residents was up 10.3 per cent.
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While 1.9 million Canadians drove to and from the U.S. in July, this was a decline of 35.8 per cent compared with July last year. Of these, around 60 per cent of the trips were same-day trips.
A total of 563,500 Canadians returned from the U.S. by air, a decrease of 16.2 per cent compared with the same month last year.
In July this year, 999,600 overseas residents arrived in Canada. The majority of these (81.7 per cent) travelled to Canada by air.
Just three countries – the United Kingdom (134,700), France (104,100) and India (68,300) – made up nearly one-third (30.7 per cent) of all overseas arrivals in Canada.
Europe and Asia were the primary contributors to the annual increase in overseas tourists to Canada, the report said.
“This summer, Canadians chose to explore more of their own country, choosing to support local businesses, and keeping their travel dollars in Canada. That is a testament to the quality, diversity, and innovation of the experiences our industry provides,” the Tourism Industry Association of Canada (TIAC) said in a statement.
The group added that the increase in the number of visitors from Asia, in particular, was “encouraging” and reflected a diversification of Canada’s tourism industry.
“These results remind us that sustained investment is essential to ensure Canada remains top of mind for travellers around the world,” the statement said.
The ‘Buy Canadian’ sentiment might be encouraging Canadians to spend their money closer to home, helping the Canadian tourism industry weather challenges, said Jayne McCaw, owner of Jayne’s Luxury Rentals, an Canadian cottage rental platform.
“While U.S. bookings have dipped slightly due to cross-border complexities, the rise in Canadian staycations has more than offset that decline,” McCaw said.
Canadians are looking to spend next summer at home too, she said.
“Advance long-term bookings for next summer stays are already triple last year’s, and back to pandemic levels, signalling renewed momentum for extended, domestic getaways,” she added.
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