Why Canada–US Cross-Border Travel Is Rising

Are Canadians travelling to the US more?

Compared with the same month in 2025, yes. Statistics Canada counted 1.9 million return trips by Canadian residents from the United States in September 2026, by car and air combined. That was a 6.8 per cent increase and the sixth consecutive month of year-over-year growth ².

The comparison changes when the reference year changes. September's total was still 31.1 per cent below September 2024, so the latest rise is not evidence that Canadian visits have fully returned to that earlier level ².

Why did cross-border travel rise in September?

The figures show that trips increased compared with September 2025, but they do not establish one broad reason for the change. Statistics Canada said the sharp increase in U.S. residents' trips to Canada was affected by the calendar: Labour Day fell one week later in 2026 than in 2025 ³.

The rise happened amid an ongoing trade dispute and reported Canadian boycotts of U.S. vacation destinations ¹². The data alone cannot tell us how much those political and consumer factors affected travel, or why individual travellers chose to cross the border.

Are Americans visiting Canada more often?

In September 2026, U.S. residents made 1.8 million trips to Canada by car and plane, up 17.2 per cent from September 2025. This was the eighth consecutive month in which those trips were higher than in the same month a year earlier ².

That year-over-year increase is a useful measure of direction, but it does not by itself show how much visitors spent, where they went, or whether local businesses saw more customers.

What do the figures say about cars and flights?

Canadian return trips by car from the United States were up 5.6 per cent year over year in September. But car trips remained 31.1 per cent below their September 2024 level. Canadian return trips by air rose 11.6 per cent from September 2025, while remaining 18.7 per cent below September 2024 ³.

These comparisons show why it helps to check both the year-over-year change and the earlier baseline. A monthly increase can coexist with a lower total than two years before.

How might the rise affect tourism businesses?

More trips across the border can mean more potential visitors for tourism businesses in both countries. Canadian businesses may have more U.S. travellers to welcome, while U.S. destinations may see more Canadian visitors than they did a year earlier.

The sources report trip counts, not the resulting effect on sales, jobs, hotel bookings or individual operators. They also do not identify which destinations or types of business benefited. So the figures suggest a larger pool of cross-border travellers, not a measured tourism-business recovery.

What should travellers and businesses take from this?

The clearest takeaway is that cross-border travel was higher in September 2026 than in September 2025 in both directions. But the increase has limits: Canadian trips to the United States remained well below September 2024, and the reported calendar effect cautions against treating one month's change as a complete explanation ²³.

For a fuller picture, readers can follow Statistics Canada's travel releases and compare several months and years. The reports provided here do not show what will happen in later months or how travel patterns will change.