September cross-border travel rises as U.S. visits to Canada gain 17.2%
Preliminary September data show stronger two-way Canada-U.S. travel, potentially supporting border-region tourism and travel-facing businesses while calendar effects temper interpretation.
Statistics Canada’s preliminary September reading showed 1,889,652 Canadian-resident return trips from the United States by air and automobile, up 6.8% from September 2025. U.S.-resident trips to Canada reached 1,806,757, an increase of 17.2% from a year earlier. Together with overseas travel, international arrivals to Canada totalled 5.3 million, up 9.5% year over year. The figures were released on October 13 and are an early indicator rather than the final travel count for the month. [1]
The rise in Canadian returns from the United States was the sixth straight month of year-over-year growth. Automobile returns increased 5.6% from September 2025, while air returns rose 11.6%. Even so, both modes remained well below their September 2024 levels: automobile returns were down 31.1%, and air returns were down 18.7%. That comparison suggests the latest annual improvement represents a partial recovery in recorded travel volumes rather than evidence that cross-border Canadian travel has returned to its earlier level. [1]
U.S. travel into Canada extended an eight-month sequence of year-over-year gains. Americans made about 1.3 million automobile trips to Canada in September, up 19.5%, and 537,400 air trips, up 12.2%. Statistics Canada said the strength of the monthly comparison was partly attributable to the moving Labour Day weekend, which fell one week later in 2026 than it did in 2025. The highest daily U.S.-resident arrivals were recorded on September 4, ahead of the holiday weekend. [1]
For businesses serving border traffic, the release points to a stronger September flow of potential customers on both sides of the border, particularly for accommodation, food service, retail, passenger transport and tourism operators. However, the data measure arrivals and return trips, not visitor spending, overnight stays, trade volumes or business profitability. Statistics Canada also cautioned that Canada Border Services Agency enhancements allowing integration of NEXUS Highway traveller information affect comparisons from the September 2026 reference month onward; complete September counts are scheduled for release on November 23. [1]
The release is significant as a timely indicator of cross-border mobility: Canadian-resident returns from the United States rose 6.8% year over year and U.S.-resident trips to Canada rose 17.2%, creating a potentially positive near-term demand signal for travel-facing and border-region businesses. The rating is not higher because the figures are preliminary, the U.S. increase was partly influenced by Labour Day timing, and the release does not establish spending, employment, pricing or trade effects. [1]