Canadian boycott of U.S. travel gains steam in July

By Tom Parkin

August 13th, 2025

BURLINGTON, ON

To July 31, Canadians have logged over 830,000 fewer return trips from the United States through Canada’s major airports than last year — and July’s drop is the biggest yet.

Change in Canadians returning from US via Canada’s 10 largest airports, 2024 to 2025

Canadians’ boycott of travel to the United States gained ground in July as return air trips fell 27 per cent from the same month of 2024, the largest monthly drop so far this year, according to Statistics Canada data released August 11.

Among Canada’s largest 10 airports, only Quebec City’s Jean Lesage airport saw a July increase in Canadians returning from the United States compared to the same month in 2024. The largest drop was at Edmonton airport where trips by Canadians returning from the United States was down 40 per cent.

July’s return air traffic from the United States through Canada’s largest 10 airports was down 26.8 per cent, or 133,815 visits, from the same month a year ago.

There were 4,565,183 return air trips to Canada by Canadian residents in 2024 up to July 31, but during the same period of 2025 there have been 3,734,819 trips, an 18.2 per cent drop.

Canadians returning from United States via major airports, change July 2024 to July 2025