In August, the preliminary number of international arrivals to Canada (Canadian-resident return trips, combined with US-resident and overseas-resident arrivals) by air and automobile totalled 6.9 million, up 4.3% from the same month in 2025, according to Statistics Canada.
Canadian-resident return trips from abroad (from the United States and overseas countries) by automobile and air stood at 3.7 million in August, up 4.9% from the same month one year earlier.
In August, Canadian-resident return trips from the United States totalled 2.6 million, up 8.8% from the same month in 2025. This marked the fifth consecutive month of year-over-year growth.
While return trips from the United States by automobile in August 2026 rose 9.9% from August 2025, they were 27.4% lower than in August 2024. Return trips from the United States by air in August 2026 increased 3.6% from August 2025 but were 22.7% below their August 2024 levels.
Gordie Howe International Bridge
August 2026 marked the first full month of operation for the Gordie Howe International Bridge In August, the bridge was used for 134,900 Canadian-resident return trips from the United States by automobile, 56.7% of which were same-day. It was also used as a port of entry for 101,000 US-resident trips to Canada by automobile, 52.2% of which were same-day.
During the same period, 348,000 Canadian and US residents entered Canada by automobile at Windsor’s Ambassador Bridge and the Windsor-Detroit Tunnel, down 35.4% from August 2025.
Overseas
Canadian-resident return trips from overseas countries by air totalled 1.2 million in August, marking a third consecutive month of year-over-year decrease (-2.8%).
In August, the highest number of return trips from abroad by Canadian residents was observed on Mon. Aug. 3 (176,900), during the civic holiday long weekend. The lowest number of such return trips was seen on Tues., Aug. 11 (94,900).
United States-resident trips to Canada
US-resident trips to Canada increased 2.4% in August, reaching 2.4 million. This marked the seventh consecutive month of year-over-year increase.
In August, US residents made 1.8 million trips to Canada by automobile (+1.0%) and 629,600 trips by air (+6.8%).
The highest number of daily arrivals for August was observed on Sat. August 1 (116,200), and the lowest number was seen on Mon. Aug. 31 (43,700).
Overseas-resident trips to Canada increase
Overseas-resident trips to Canada were up 7.2% in August from the same month one year earlier. More overseas residents arrived in Canada by air (670,100; +9.9% year over year) than by automobile (90,400; -9.1% year over year) in August.
e highest number of arrivals per day of overseas residents in August was observed on Sat., Aug. 1 (34,400), and the lowest was seen on Mon., Aug. 31 (17,400).
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