Canadians spent $۳.۳bn less on travel to the US in ۲۰۲۵ than in the previous year, as Donald Trump’s hostile policies towards his northern neighbour continue to incur an economic cost, new government data shows.
The research also indicates that Canadians are not bucking travel overall and instead have replaced US vacations with other international destinations, in a rebuke to Trump’s tariff regime and the president’s continued musings on annexing Canada.
“Following the change in the US administration in early ۲۰۲۵ and the implementation of America First policies, Canadian travel sentiment shifted abruptly,” said authors of the report published by Statistics Canada, the country’s national statistics agency.
Total US travel spending in ۲۰۲۵ amounted to $۱۸.۸bn, down from $۲۲.۱bn in ۲۰۲۴.
In contrast, Canadian spending on travel abroad, excluding the US, grew by $۳.۶bn in ۲۰۲۵, to a total of $۲۲.۸bn.
Canadian visits to Europe increased by nearly ۱۴% compared with ۲۰۲۴, while visits to Asia increased by almost ۱۷%.
Those increases offered a stark contrast to the dwindling US visits. Overall in ۲۰۲۵, return trips to Canada from the US by vehicle and by plane dropped by about one quarter compared to ۲۰۲۴. The highest travel declines were recorded in July ۲۰۲۵, when border crossings fell by about one-third from the previous year.
Those plummeting border crossings through nearly the entire year were “the deepest and most sustained on record”, the agency said. Since digital record-keeping began in ۱۹۷۲, declines of more than ۳۰% have only ever been seen in September ۲۰۰۱, after the ۹/۱۱ World Trade Center attacks.
Looking at ۲۰۲۶ data so far, Statistics Canada said the drop in leisure travel to the US was continuing. Return trips to Canada from the US this year are at similar levels seen at the end of ۲۰۲۵, which saw a ۲۷% decline between October and December, it reported.
The data signals “a persistent shift away from the United States by Canadian residents in their travel preferences”.
