The Trump administration’s hostile rhetoric and policies toward the U.S.’s northern neighbor continue to chill cross-border travel by Canadians.
Data from the Canadian government released on Nov. 12 showed that 30 percent fewer Canadians visited the U.S. by automobile in October, continuing a 10-month trend of year-over-year declines.
Far fewer Canadians are visiting the U.S. by air, as well.
Canadians: Just Say “No” to the U.S.
“Though the number of returning Canadian-resident trips from overseas countries by air increased 6.8 percent from October 2024 to 964,200 in October 2025, the number of trips by air from the United States declined 23.9 percent to 437,300,” the report from Statistics Canada noted.
The trends have been fueled by President Donald Trump and U.S. government officials’ speculation about annexing Canada as the 51st U.S. state, which prompted a Canadian boycott of American-made products and travel.
The animosity, which has continued to be fueled by U.S. pressure on the Canadian trade relationship and imposition of tariffs on Canadian-made goods, shows little sign of abating, the statistics suggest.
“The tariff war is one thing, but it’s the tone of the trade war. It’s the tone of the poking about ‘51st state,’” Julian Karaguesian, a visiting lecturer in economic policy at Canada’s McGill University, told the New York Times.
Trips by Americans to Canada by auto also declined in October, but by less than 1 percent compared to the same month in 2024. American visits to Canada by air increased 1.3 percent year-over-year in the same month.
A report released in October by the U.S. Travel Association projected a 15 percent decline in travel to the U.S. in 2025.
“Total inbound travel spending is forecast to fall 3.2 percent to $173 billion for the year,” according to the report. “Significantly fewer visits from Canada are the primary driver of this decrease, and the volume of visits from countries other than Canada is expected to be flat.”
