Despite the passport crisis and chaos at airports, the number of Canadians flying overseas is on the rise, as is travel to the United States, according to new data from Statistics Canada.
Posted at 11:31 a.m.
In June 2022, the number of Canadians who returned from overseas travel stood at 571,700. This is the highest rate of travel resumption to date and corresponds to 73.2% of the level pre-pandemic.
Even with canceled flights and lost suitcases, the desire to travel abroad this year was strong, compared to the 61,200 Canadians who had set sail in June 2021.
Canadians visit the United States more
Canadians have also resumed taking day trips by car to neighboring America.
In June 2022, Statistics Canada counted nearly 2 million return trips from the United States, compared to only 310,900 in June 2021. But the craze is not that of before the pandemic. We are at 56.9% of the level observed in June 2019.
The automobile is the transportation of choice for crossing the border, chosen by 1.5 million Canadians, 63.4% of whom returned the same day.
The number of air trips to the United States, made by residents of Canada, increased from 25,300 in June 2021 to 448,500 in June 2022, a level corresponding to 70.2% of that of June 2019.
A few more American visitors
Americans were slightly less likely than Canadians to cross the border. More than 1.7 million residents of the United States made the trip to Canada in June 2022, significantly more than the 128,400 in June 2021, but a level still lower than in June 2019. We are at 57.5 % of pre-pandemic level.
The majority of Americans came by car, 989,500, and 38% returned to their country the same day.
As for overseas travellers, they were much higher than last year, when only 34,500 visited Canada. Thus, last June, 464,100 residents of overseas countries arrived in Canada, more than half (52.2%) of the number who entered Canada in June 2019.