Canadian return trips from the U.S. continue to rise in July

Statistics Canada is reporting that in July 2026, Canadian-resident return trips from the United States totalled 2.3 million, up 10.2% from the same month in 2025, marking the fourth consecutive month of year-over-year growth.

The increase in July 2026, Statistics Canada said is largely due to a base-year effect, as Canadian-resident trips to the United States declined sharply in 2025 following geopolitical tensions.

While return trips from the United States by automobile rose 12.8% from July 2025 to July 2026, they were 28.9% lower than in July 2024.

At the same time, return trips from the United States by air decreased 1.4% from July 2025 and were 26.8% below their July 2024 level.

On July 27, 2026, the Gordie Howe International Bridge opened, spanning the Detroit River between Windsor, Ontario, and Detroit, Michigan. It adds to Windsor’s existing two border crossings, the Ambassador Bridge and the Windsor-Detroit Tunnel, which, together, are Canada’s busiest land crossings.

From July 27 to 31, the Gordie Howe International Bridge was used for 18,900 Canadian-resident return trips from the United States by automobile and 18,100 US-resident trips to Canada by automobile.

During the same period, there were 31,500 return trips by Canadian residents and 21,200 arrivals to Canada by US residents via the other Windsor crossings.

Canadian-resident return trips from overseas countries by air totalled 988,900 in July 2026, a decrease of 1.4% from the same month one year earlier.

US-resident trips to Canada increased 6.5% in July, reaching 2.7 million. This marked the sixth consecutive month of year-over-year increase.

In July, US residents made 1.9 million trips to Canada by automobile (+7.2%) and 749,000 trips by air (+4.8%).

Together, Canadian host cities Vancouver and Toronto were home to three FIFA World Cup matches in July 2026. Teams from five overseas countries played in these matches. Total air arrivals from these five countries were up 18.7% (+6,700) in July 2026 compared with one year earlier.

Notably, air arrivals by Colombian residents peaked on Monday, July 6, the day before their World Cup match in Vancouver, while air arrivals by residents of Switzerland peaked on Sunday, July 5, ahead of their match in Vancouver. Air arrivals by Portuguese and Croatian residents peaked on Wednesday, July 1, before their World Cup match in Toronto on July 2.