(Toronto) The number of international travelers to Canada in May continued to grow from pandemic lows, but remained below levels seen in 2019, Statistics Canada said Friday.
Posted at 12:29 p.m.
Overseas travelers were almost 12 times more likely to visit Canada in May than in the same month last year, according to the federal agency, but those trips still accounted for less than half the number of travelers to Canada. Canada in May 2019.
Americans made nearly 10 times more trips to Canada in May than the same month last year, and for the first time since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, that number totaled more than half of trips made in May 2019.
The number of return trips made by Canadian residents after a visit abroad was almost eight times higher in May than a year earlier, to stand at about 60% of the level in May 2019.
The data covers a period when the federal government allowed partially vaccinated and unvaccinated children aged 5 to 11 to waive testing for COVID-19 before entering Canada.
However, May travelers still needed to be fully vaccinated to gain access to air, rail and sea travel.