Travel between Canada and other countries, June 2017
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Released: 2017-08-18
As the country readied for its 150th birthday celebrations, the number of trips to Canada by residents of overseas countries continued its upward climb in June, while the number of US residents travelling to Canada rose to its highest total for the month of June in 10 years. Meanwhile, the numbers of Canadians returning home from trips to overseas countries and from trips to the United States by plane reached new highs for the month.
US travel to Canada rises to highest level for June in 10 years
US residents made 2.0 million trips to Canada in June, up 3.3% from May and 3.8% higher than in June 2016. This was also the highest figure for the month since June 2007.
The number of US residents travelling to Canada by car increased by 2.2% in June to 1.4 million, with 696,000 (+2.1%) making same-day trips and 661,000 (+2.4%) taking trips of one or more nights.
Following a 5.2% decline in May, the number of US travellers making overnight trips to Canada by plane continued its four-year upward trend in June, rising 6.0% to 409,000, a new high for the month. Over this four-year period – that is, since June 2013, when the Canadian dollar was worth 97 cents US – the number of US residents travelling to Canada by car has increased 15.7% while the number of overnight trips to Canada by plane has risen 55.7%.
In Nova Scotia, increased numbers of cruise travellers helped boost the numbers of US travellers arriving in that province by 42.8% over the previous June.
Overseas arrivals to Canada reaches new high for June
Overseas residents made 558,000 trips to Canada in June, up 2.6% from May. This was 7.6% higher than June 2016, and the highest level for the month of June since modern record keeping began in 1972.
From January through to the end of June 2017, the number of travellers to Canada from overseas countries was 12.7% higher than during the first six months of 2016. Higher numbers of travellers were observed in the first half of the year from Europe (+5.6%), Asia (+13.8%), North America (excluding US), Central America and Caribbean (+37.8%), Australia and Oceania (+18.8%) and South America (+19.8%).
Among overseas countries, the greatest increase in the number of travellers to Canada over the first half of 2017 was from Mexico. Following the lifting of the visa requirement for travellers to Canada from Mexico in December 2016, the number of arrivals from Mexico during the first six months of 2017 was 59.1% higher (+64,400) than during the first six months of the previous year. The next largest increases over the same period were from China (+33,600 or +13.6%), Australia (+28,700 or +20.7%), India (+25,600 or +24.1%) and South Korea (+21,900 or +21.9%).
Air travel by Canadians to the United States on the rise while car trips declining
Canadian residents made a total of 3.4 million trips to the United States in June, up 4.3% from May but 1.2% fewer than 12 months earlier. Air travel by Canadians to the United States reached a new high for the month of June. In contrast, car travel to the United States, which has declined in each of the last four years, was at its lowest since June 2009, near the end of the economic downturn.
After accounting for normal seasonal travel patterns, air travel by Canadians to the United States rose in June following a 5.2% decline in May. Canadian residents took 760,000 overnight trips by plane to the United States in June, a 14.8% increase from May and 16.1% more than June 2016. On a year-over-year basis, double-digit increases in the numbers of Canadians travelling to the United States by plane were recorded in British Columbia (+22.3%), Quebec (+18.2%), Ontario (+18.1%) and Alberta (+11.6%).
Following a decrease of 8.0% in May, the number of car trips made by Canadian residents to the United States increased by 1.5% to 2.5 million in June. However, that total was 5.6% lower than June 2016. On a year-over-year basis, the number of same-day car trips to the United States decreased by 6.8%, and overnight car trips decreased by 3.2%. Among provinces bordering the United States, only Saskatchewan recorded a year-over-year increase in Canadians returning from car trips to the United States (+2.5%).
Overseas travel by Canadians sets a record high for June
In June, 1.1 million Canadians took a trip to overseas countries, an increase of 5.4% from May and 15.0% higher than June 2016.
Note to readers
Monthly data are seasonally adjusted. For information on seasonal adjustment, see Seasonally adjusted data – Frequently asked questions. Year-to-date figures are based on unadjusted data.
Seasonally adjusted data from March to May 2017 have been revised. No revisions were made to data that were not seasonally adjusted. Corrections were made to the previous month.
The most recent data for the following airports are preliminary estimates that will be revised in a future release: Macdonald-Cartier, Ottawa (since March 2017), Vancouver (since April 2017) and Toronto International Airport T3 (since June 2017). Since these estimates contribute to provincial and national totals, these totals will also be revised.
Overseas countries refer to countries other than the United States.
A Canadian resident traveller is a Canadian resident who has travelled outside Canada for a period of less than 12 months.
A non-resident traveller is a resident of a country other than Canada who is travelling to Canada for a period of less than 12 months.
Products
The June 2017 issue of International Travel: Advance Information, Vol. 33, no. 6 (66-001-P) is now available.
The updated Canada and the World Statistics Hub – United States (13-609-X) is now available from the home page of the Statistics Canada website. This new product illustrates the nature and extent of Canada's economic and financial relationship with the United States, using interactive graphs and tables. This product provides easy access to information on trade, investment, employment and travel, including merchandise trade by Canadian provinces and US states.
Contact information
For more information, or to enquire about the concepts, methods or data quality of this release, contact us (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; STATCAN.infostats-infostats.STATCAN@canada.ca) or Media Relations (613-951-4636; STATCAN.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.STATCAN@canada.ca).
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