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Travel from Canada to the United States and other countries increased in August compared with July, while travel to Canada remained stable.
Overall, the number of trips by Canadian residents abroad rose 6.7% to just over 4.0 million. At the same time, the number of trips to Canada remained virtually unchanged at just under 2.0 million.
The increase in travel abroad was primarily the result of 7.9% more trips to the United States in August. Canadians took over 1.5 million overnight trips to the United States in August, up 6.4% from July. Overnight travel increased by all modes of transportation, with overnight plane travel recording the largest gain at 9.3%.
Canadians made about 1.8 million same-day car trips to the United States, up 9.6% from July.
Canadians made 686,000 trips to overseas countries, up 1.0%.
Travel from the United States to Canada increased 0.2% to 1.6 million trips. The main contributing factor was a 5.5% rise in same-day car travel by Americans to Canada.
In contrast, overnight travel to Canada by US residents declined 2.6% to 942,000 trips. Overnight travel by car fell 2.6%, while it was down 4.5% by plane.
Travel from overseas countries declined 1.0% from July as foreign visitors made 335,000 trips to Canada in August. Overall, 6 of the top 12 overseas markets recorded decreases in August, with Mexico (-22.9%) recording the largest drop.
Available on CANSIM: tables 427-0001 to 427-0006.
Definitions, data sources and methods: survey number 5005.
The August 2009 issue of International Travel, Advance Information, Vol. 25, no. 8 (66-001-P, free), is now available from the Publications module of our website.
For more information, contact Client Services (toll-free 1-800-307-3382; 613-951-9169; fax: 613-951-2909; tourism@statcan.gc.ca). To enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact Frances Kremarik (613-951-4240; frances.kremarik@statcan.gc.ca), Tourism and the Centre for Education Statistics Division.
Table 1
| August 2008r | February 2009r | July 2009r | August 2009p | July to August 2009 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seasonally adjusted | |||||
| thousands | % change1 | ||||
| Canadian trips abroad2 | 4,441 | 3,965 | 3,772 | 4,024 | 6.7 |
| To the United States | 3,770 | 3,265 | 3,093 | 3,338 | 7.9 |
| To Other Countries | 671 | 701 | 679 | 686 | 1.0 |
| Same-day car trips to the United States | 2,087 | 1,749 | 1,602 | 1,755 | 9.6 |
| Total trips, one or more nights | 2,295 | 2,175 | 2,135 | 2,234 | 4.6 |
| United States3 | 1,624 | 1,474 | 1,456 | 1,548 | 6.4 |
| Car | 980 | 893 | 871 | 912 | 4.7 |
| Plane | 539 | 492 | 497 | 543 | 9.3 |
| Other modes of transportation | 105 | 89 | 88 | 93 | 6.3 |
| Other countries4 | 671 | 701 | 679 | 686 | 1.0 |
| Travel to Canada2 | 2,229 | 2,226 | 1,961 | 1,961 | 0.0 |
| From the United States | 1,821 | 1,861 | 1,623 | 1,626 | 0.2 |
| From Other Countries | 408 | 365 | 338 | 335 | -1.0 |
| Same-day car trips from the United States | 764 | 748 | 580 | 612 | 5.5 |
| Total trips, one or more nights | 1,367 | 1,380 | 1,298 | 1,269 | -2.2 |
| United States3 | 971 | 1,023 | 968 | 942 | -2.6 |
| Car | 561 | 624 | 575 | 560 | -2.6 |
| Plane | 289 | 282 | 277 | 265 | -4.5 |
| Other modes of transportation | 121 | 117 | 116 | 118 | 1.4 |
| Other countries4 | 396 | 356 | 330 | 326 | -1.0 |
| Travel to Canada: Top overseas markets, by country of origin5 | |||||
| United Kingdom | 73 | 63 | 51 | 53 | 3.3 |
| France | 39 | 33 | 36 | 36 | 0.1 |
| Germany | 29 | 26 | 27 | 27 | 1.2 |
| Australia | 22 | 18 | 19 | 17 | -8.8 |
| Japan | 26 | 19 | 16 | 17 | 5.3 |
| China | 14 | 15 | 12 | 14 | 15.5 |
| South Korea | 17 | 13 | 12 | 11 | -8.8 |
| Mexico | 22 | 20 | 13 | 10 | -22.9 |
| Netherlands | 10 | 9 | 10 | 9 | -4.6 |
| Switzerland | 9 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 3.8 |
| India | 9 | 10 | 9 | 9 | -1.0 |
| Italy | 10 | 8 | 8 | 8 | -3.3 |
