Statistics Canada says the number of international travellers the country welcomed in May continued to grow steadily from pandemic lows, but still remained below 2019 levels.

The agency says travellers from overseas made 12 times more trips to Canada in May than they did in the same month last year, but those trips still amounted to less than half the number made in May 2019.

Americans made almost 10 times more trips to Canada in May than they did in May 2021 and for the first time since the onset of COVID-19, this number totalled more than half of trips taken during May 2019.

Canadian residents made nearly eight times more trips home from visiting abroad in May, amounting to roughly 60% of trips made in May 2019.

The numbers encompass a period when the federal government allowed partially vaccinated or unvaccinated children between the ages of five and 11 to forgo COVID-19 testing before arriving in Canada.

However, May travellers still had to be fully vaccinated to access air, rail, and marine transportation.