Canadians are flying back to the U.S. after three years of declining travel - National Post

More Canadians travelled to the U.S. in July 2026 compared to the same month last year. Photo by Tony Caldwell /PostmediaArticle contentCanadian resident return trips to the U.S. by air have increased for the first time in 34 months, according to the latest data from Statistics Canada.

The figures, which reveal travel trends between Canada and other countries in July 2026, show that return trips to the U.S. by air edged up 0.6 per cent year over year to 567,000, marking the first increase since August 2023.

Combined with 2.2 million trips by automobile (a year-over-year increase of 12.6 per cent) and 26,400 by cruise ship, total return trips to the U.S. by Canadian residents reached 2.8 million in July, up 10.1 per cent year-over-year. This marked a fourth consecutive month of year-over-year growth, following 15 consecutive months of decline.

Get a dash of perspective along with the trending news of the day in a very readable format.

A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.

The next issue of NP Posted will soon be in your inbox.

We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again

April 2026 marked the first year-over-year increase in overall return trips from the United States since December 2024, when return trips by automobile rose by 5.8 per cent compared to a year earlier. Although return trips by air had fallen 8.1 per cent, the figures meant overall Canadian-resident return trips from the U.S. rose by 1.4 per cent that month compared to April 2025.

But despite this recent shift in travel trends, Canadian resident return trips from the U.S. remained 25.6 per cent below their July 2024 level.

Political tensions between Canada and the U.S. contributed to the drop in travel in early 2025, following tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump and his repeated suggestions that Canada could become the 51st state. Meanwhile, heightened security at the border also discouraged many from travelling south.

While the July figures suggest the decline in travel to the U.S. may be easing, the data covers a period before the latest escalation in the Canada-U.S. trade war.

In August this year, Trump threatened to impose new 50 per cent tariffs and, after talks between the two countries broke down, the levies on $28 billion worth of Canadian goods came into effect on Aug. 22.

Canada retaliated, introducing counter-tariffs on U.S. imports earlier this month. Since then, Trump and other members of his administration have aimed insults and threats at Canada, including comparing Ontario Premier Doug Ford unfavourably to his late brother and sharing a photo of a bald eagle standing on the neck of a Canada Goose from the White House’s official X account.

On Aug. 27, Trump signed an executive order to rename Lake Ontario to “Lake America,” ordering the Department of the Interior to update maps and databases with the new name.

https://t.co/OYaldd4UhI pic.twitter.com/7jQXwWW26K

These events have fuelled a renewed ‘Buy Canadian’ movement, with one Made in Canada Facebook group seeing views increase roughly 300 per cent in August compared to June this year, according to administrator Jayne Little.