More US tourists visit Canada than Canucks travel to America for first time ever
For the first time on record, more Americans drove into Canada than Canadians visited the U.S., signaling a shift in cross-border tourism during escalating trade tensions between the two countries.
According to new data released by Statistics Canada, July saw 1.8 million U.S. vehicle trips into Canada, surpassing the 1.7 million Canadian trips heading south. While travel in both directions has slowed, the drop in Canadian visits to the U.S. was especially steep.
Compared to the same month last year, U.S. trips to Canada fell by 7.4%, while Canadian travel to the U.S. plunged by 37%. The decline marks the sixth consecutive month of year-over-year decreases in tourism between the two nations.
The drop-off follows President Trump’s announcement in February of new tariffs targeting Canadian goods. His comment—half in jest—about making Canada the 51st U.S. state also stirred public backlash north of the border, leading many Canadians to rethink their travel plans.
The countries missed an August 1 deadline to finalize a trade agreement and are now engaged in a tit-for-tat tariff exchange. The U.S. has imposed tariffs as high as 50% on select Canadian imports, while Canada has responded with 25% duties on billions of dollars’ worth of American products.
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