After 15 months of declining Canadian travel to the United States, new data from Statistics Canada suggests the U.S. travel boycott may be coming to an end. In May, Canadian return trips from the U.S. totaled 1.9 million, up 9.5 percent from the same month in 2025, marking the second consecutive month of year-over-year growth.
Automobile Travel Drives Increase
The increase was driven by a rise in return trips by automobile, which surged 15.1 percent compared to May 2025. However, return trips by air remained below levels from the previous year, falling 5.5 percent last month.
Canadian travel to the U.S. first began to rebound in April 2026, when return trips by automobile rose by 5.8 percent compared to a year earlier. Although return trips by air fell 8.1 percent, the overall figures meant Canadian-resident return trips from the U.S. rose by 1.4 percent that month compared to April 2025.
April marked the first year-over-year increase in overall return trips from the United States since December 2024. Taken together, the April and May figures suggest that the 15-month boycott of travel to the U.S. by Canadians is starting to turn around.
Political Tensions and Border Security
Political tensions between Canada and the U.S. contributed to the drop in travel in early 2025, following punishing tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump and his repeated suggestions that Canada could become the 51st state. Heightened security at the border also discouraged many from traveling south.
Generational Divide in Travel Intentions
A survey from March 2026 suggested that one demographic group in Canada is embracing U.S. travel this year. The 2026 Smart Traveller Survey, conducted by The Harris Poll on behalf of the Travel Health Insurance Association of Canada (THIA), found that 45 percent of Gen Z Canadians (born between 1997 and 2012) say they are likely to travel to the U.S. next year, compared to just 8 percent of Boomers (born between 1946 and 1964).
Among Canadians who are traveling this year, nearly two-thirds (61 percent) of Gen Z respondents said the U.S. is on their itinerary, compared to 48 percent of Millennials (born 1981-1996), 28 percent of Gen X (1965-1980), and 14 percent of Boomers.
However, the survey also found that 36 percent of Canadians are choosing domestic destinations over international travel, while Europe has overtaken the U.S. as the top international destination. Although Gen Z cited cost (36 percent) and lack of paid time off (22 percent) as the biggest barriers to U.S. travel, the majority of Boomers (51 percent) cited political tensions as the biggest deterrent to cross-border travel.
