Throughout 2023, Canadians took to the skies. Some flew out of the country, while others returned home.
Although flying is a popular means of transportation year round, for many, air travel brings family together over the holiday season.
Flying through the top three travel months for Canadians in 2023
Let’s take a look at the busiest months for Canadian residents flying home to Canada so far in 2023. The month with the most return flights home for Canadian residents was March 2023, when just over 2.3 million (2,306,238) Canadian passengers boarded flights back into the country. This was an 86.9% year-over-year increase.
Coming in at number two was April 2023, with just under 2.0 million (1,986,508) Canadian residents returning home—a 50.6% year-over-year increase.
The first month of the year was ranked at number three. The year started off strong with close to 2.0 million (1,958,047) Canadian residents arriving home in January 2023. This month saw a major year-over-year increase, at 170.2%.
Flying back for the holiday season
This time in 2022, many Canadians were packing their bags to return home for the holidays. In December 2022, just over 1.5 million (1,537,063) Canadian residents flew back into Canada.
We welcome back all Canadians returning home for the holidays and wish you safe travels this month.
Stay tuned for this year’s holiday travel numbers, landing on January 11, 2024, in the release, “Leading indicator of international arrivals to Canada.” This release will provide a first glimpse of international arrivals to Canada in December 2023. Complete counts for the December reference month will be available with the release of "Travel between Canada and other countries" on February 23, 2024.
To explore all about travel in and out of Canada year round, visit our Frontier Counts: Interactive Dashboard.
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Contact information
For more information, contact the Statistical Information Service (toll-free 1-800-263-1136; 514-283-8300; infostats@statcan.gc.ca) or Media Relations (statcan.mediahotline-ligneinfomedias.statcan@statcan.gc.ca).