U.S. transport numbers show sharp plunge in Canadian travel amid trade war – National
This comes as many Canadians have remained committed to boycotting any travel to the U.S. as U.S. President Donald Trump continues with tariffs, and after repeated threats of annexation.
The U.S. data revealed Monday that 94.4 million personal vehicles crossed into the U.S. in 2025, which was found to be the primary mode of transportation for entering the U.S. by land.
However, slightly more than 18 million Canadian personal vehicles entered the U.S., dropping by 18.8 per cent compared to the year prior, more than 26 million Canadians entered by the same mode of transporation.
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The number of Canadian pedestrians entering the U.S. also dropped by 15.4 per cent.
The Buffalo Niagara Falls port experienced a significant spike in pedestrians crossing the border with a year-over-year change of 54 per cent, while every other port saw a decline.
Bus traffic also took a hit, falling by 14.6 per cent from 2024.
In addition, truck traffic along the northern border declined by 5.1 per cent from 2024, with every port except Port Huron experiencing a negative decline.
Statistics Canada also released a report Monday stating that Canadian residents’ return trips from the U.S. by automobile declined 30.2 per cent to 1.5 million in December 2025. Of those arrivals, 68.4 per cent were same-day trips.
It was also found that in that same month, the number of Canadian resident return trips by air from the U.S. (718,400) decreased 11 per cent compared with the same month a year earlier.
Meanwhile, return trips of Canadian residents by air from overseas countries (1.2 million) were up 13.3 per cent compared with December 2024.
This is the first annual decrease between the two countries since 2016, excluding the pandemic.
© 2026 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
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