There was a “steep decline” in the number of trips Canadian residents took to and from the

United States

in December, marking yet another month of slowdown in transborder

travel

.

Last month, Canadians made 1.3 million trips by automobile from the U.S., a 30.7 per cent year-over-year drop from 2024, according to monthly travel data from

Statistics Canada

.

That figure was unchanged from November’s total, which was 28.6 per cent down from the same month in 2024.

The December 2025 data marked 12 consecutive months of year-over-year declines.

By air, Canadian return trips from the U.S. fell 18.7 per cent in December to 470,700.

For comparison, Canadian return trips by air from overseas countries increased 10.4 per cent, for a total of 1.1 million.

 

Overall, however, Canadians returned from 1.6 million trips by air from abroad, down by 0.1 per cent from the previous year.

Meanwhile, U.S. residents took 981,800 trips to Canada by car in December, representing a nine per cent year-over-year drop and the 11th consecutive month of declines. By air, U.S. trips to Canada were down 8.9 per cent.

Total international arrivals by air and automobile by returning Canadian residents and non-residents was 4.6 million, down 12.7 per cent

 

from December 2024. This category also had its 11th straight month of year-over-year declines.

Arrivals to Canada by air by non-Canadians last month totalled 752,700, down 1.1 per cent a year ago. Statistics Canada said this decrease was driven by an 8.9 per cent decline in U.S.-resident arrivals and was partially offset by a 6.6 per cent increase in overseas-resident arrivals.

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• Email: dpaglinawan@postmedia.com