Cross-border visits by Canadian and U.S. residents up from last year: StatCan

Statistics Canada says more Canadians and Americans have travelled across the border between the two countries over the last six months compared to last year. 

The agency says Canadian residents made 1.9 million return trips from the United States last month by automobile and by air, up 6.8 per cent compared to September 2025. 

Statistics Canada says the spike marks the sixth consecutive month of year-over-year growth of visits to the U.S. by Canadian residents.  

StatCan says trips by Canadian residents to the U.S. last month remain 31.1 per cent lower than in September 2024 despite the rise compared to the same month last year. 

It says U.S. residents' visits to Canada also increased by 17.2 per cent last month compared to the same month last year totaling 1.8 million trips. 

The agency says the spike is the eighth consecutive month of year-over-year increase of travel of U.S. residents to Canada. 

The rise in cross-border travel comes amidst an ongoing trade war between the two countries that saw U.S. President Donald Trump introduce outright bans on imports of certain Canadian goods last month including most Canadian-made booze, dairy byproducts and some motorcycles.

The bans marked the latest escalation of the trade war as the Trump administration seeks to pressure Canada into trade concessions after Prime Minister Mark Carney suspended trade talks in August.

Both countries accused each other of adding eleventh-hour changes to the agreement. U.S. tariffs hit $28 billion in Canadian goods the next day, followed by Canadian retaliatory tariffs on Sept. 8. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 14, 2026.

By Maan Alhmidi | Copyright 2026, The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.