Canadians are staying away from the US - and the drop in travel is getting hard to ignore

"We started to see from summer onwards, a lot of protests, a lot of activity by ICE, rhetoric and talk about calling in the National Guard to clean up cities,"

"I think that scared away a lot of tourists."

Statistics Canada data through November show fewer Canadians returned from the US than in recent years, indicating a sustained decline in visits. The number of Canadians returning plunged during the pandemic and never fully recovered to pre-pandemic averages. After partial recovery, arrivals fell sharply in early 2025 and were about 25% lower year‑over‑year in November. US residents entering Canada have not experienced as large a drop since the start of the year. Domestic travel within Canada rose 10.9% in Q2 2025 versus a year earlier, with over one third of trips for holiday, leisure, or recreation. Contributing factors include immigration enforcement, ICE activity, protests, and political rhetoric.

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