TORONTO — The number of return trips to the United States by Canadian residents fell more than 20% in January, continuing a year-long downward trend, according to new data released Monday by Statistics Canada.
The agency reported that Canadian residents returned from 2.1 million trips to the U.S. in January 2026, a 22% decrease compared with the same month in 2025. This marked the 13th consecutive month of year-over-year declines.
Statistics Canada said shifting travel patterns began in early 2025, coinciding with heightened political tensions between Canada and the United States.
By contrast, return trips by Canadian residents from countries other than the U.S. increased during the same period. The agency reported 1.5 million such trips in January, up 10.6% year-over-year.
That total exceeded the number of automobile trips to the U.S. for the first time since comparable records began in 1972, excluding the pandemic period.
Return trips from the United States by automobile declined 26.3% to 1.3 million in January. Of those, 67.5% were same-day trips. Air travel from the U.S. also decreased, with 753,400 return trips recorded, down 12.8% from January 2025.
Overall, Canadian residents made 3.6 million return trips from abroad in January, an 11% decrease compared with the same month last year.
Trips to Canada by U.S. residents also declined slightly. Statistics Canada reported 1.1 million visits from U.S. residents in January 2026, down 0.3% year-over-year. While automobile arrivals decreased, air arrivals rose 2.7%.
Visits to Canada by residents of countries other than the U.S. were down 2.1% compared with January 2025, marking the first decline since March of last year.
The overall decrease was largely driven by an 18.6% drop in arrivals from Asia, partially offset by increases from the Americas and Europe.
Statistics Canada said the top three countries of residence for overseas visitors in January were Mexico, the United Kingdom and France, accounting for 28.2% of all overseas arrivals to Canada.
