Canadians Cut U.S. Travel Spending by C$3.3 Billion as American Tourism Industry Tries to Win Them Back

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The traditional Canadian getaway south of the border has become noticeably less automatic. Canadian residents spent C$3.3 billion less on visits to the United States in 2025 than they did a year earlier, reducing total spending there to C$18.8 billion as millions of trips disappeared from the cross-border travel market.

The shift has created an unusual challenge for American destinations that long treated Canadians as a reliable source of visitors. From New York discounts to Las Vegas currency promotions and a new national marketing push, tourism organizations are trying to rebuild that relationship. Yet the latest numbers suggest the story is more complicated than a temporary travel slump: Canadians are still travelling and spending, but a larger share of that money is going somewhere else.

The C$3.3 Billion Drop Shows How Much Spending Vanished

Statistics Canada found that Canadian spending on visits to the United States fell from roughly C$22.1 billion in 2024 to C$18.8 billion in 2025, a decline of C$3.3 billion. On a percentage basis, total U.S. travel expenditures by Canadian residents dropped 15.1%. For hotels, restaurants, attractions and retailers accustomed to Canadian customers, that represents a meaningful amount of business disappearing in only one year.

The decline also stands out because Canadian travellers did not simply stop taking vacations. Instead, spending patterns shifted geographically. That distinction matters for the American tourism sector. Economic weakness might eventually reverse as household finances improve, but travellers who become comfortable with new destinations can be harder to win back. A family that once drove to New York, flew to Florida or spent a weekend in Las Vegas may now have discovered another destination that competes for the same vacation budget.

A Once-Routine Border Crossing Became Far Less Common

The spending decline was accompanied by a striking reduction in travel volume. Canadian residents made 23.1 million visits involving the United States in 2025, down 23.5% from the previous year. A separate Statistics Canada measure of return border crossings fell 25.4%. That is especially significant considering that Canadians recorded 39 million return crossings from the U.S. in 2024, representing about three-quarters of their international return crossings.

The decline deepened during 2025 rather than disappearing after a few difficult months. Statistics Canada described an 11-month run of year-over-year declines as the deepest sustained contraction in U.S. border crossings in its digital records outside the pandemic period. At its worst point, volumes were nearly one-third below year-earlier levels. For border communities built around spontaneous shopping trips, sporting events and weekend breaks, fewer crossings mean fewer opportunities to sell everything from gasoline and meals to hotel rooms.

Leisure Travellers Were at the Centre of the Pullback

Holiday travel is particularly important because leisure visitors tend to spend considerably more than people travelling mainly to see relatives. In 2025, holidays, recreation and leisure accounted for 58.4% of Canadian outbound travel. Canadian leisure visits to the United States dropped by 21.5%, or approximately 3.2 million visits, while U.S. trips primarily made to visit friends and relatives declined by a much smaller 9%.

That difference helps explain why tourism businesses have felt the change so clearly. Statistics Canada calculated that Canadians travelling abroad for leisure spent about 4.5 times as much as those travelling mainly for family reasons. U.S. leisure-related travel spending alone fell by C$2.2 billion, reaching C$12.1 billion in 2025. Losing a vacationer can therefore mean losing spending across multiple businesses at once: an airline seat or tank of fuel, several hotel nights, restaurant meals, entertainment tickets and shopping purchases.

Overseas Destinations Captured More of Canada’s Vacation Budget

One of the clearest signs of substitution appeared outside North America. Canadian overseas visits increased 10.2% in 2025, while visits to Europe jumped 13.6% and visits to Asia rose 16.7%. Spending on overseas travel reached C$31.3 billion for the year, up 17.5%. Within the leisure category specifically, overseas spending climbed by C$3.6 billion to C$22.8 billion.

That movement continued into early 2026. During the first quarter, Canadians made 4.6 million trips involving overseas destinations, 6.2% more than a year earlier, and spent C$10.1 billion abroad outside the United States, an increase of 16.7%. Mexico received about 1.3 million Canadian visits during the quarter, while the Dominican Republic received 441,000. Japan and France also registered notable year-over-year gains. These numbers suggest that airlines, resorts and tour operators outside the U.S. are competing successfully for money that historically might have flowed south.

More Travel Dollars Also Stayed Inside Canada

International destinations were not the only beneficiaries. Domestic tourism also expanded as U.S. travel declined. Canadians recorded approximately 342 million domestic visits in 2025, up 1.5% from the previous year and 2.5% above 2019. Spending on domestic travel rose much more quickly, increasing 8.7% to C$81.3 billion. Compared with 2019, domestic tourism expenditures were 41.8% higher.

Leisure spending played an important role here as well. Statistics Canada reported an 8.1% increase in spending on domestic leisure-related trips. The change can be felt in ordinary travel decisions: a long weekend that once meant crossing into the United States can instead become a trip to another Canadian province, a resort stay, a national park visit or a city break closer to home. Collectively, millions of those individual choices redirect spending toward Canadian accommodations, restaurants, entertainment venues and transportation providers rather than American businesses.

The 2026 Improvement Has Not Yet Restored Earlier Travel Levels

Recent border figures contain encouraging signs for U.S. destinations, but they need context. Canadian-resident return trips from the United States reached about 2.3 million in July 2026, increasing 10.2% compared with the unusually weak July 2025 period. Statistics Canada said it was the fourth consecutive month of year-over-year growth, helped partly by comparison with last year’s depressed numbers.

Against 2024, however, the gap remained substantial. Canadian automobile return trips from the U.S. in July 2026 were still 28.9% below July 2024, while air returns were 26.8% lower. Earlier data told a similar story: during the first quarter of 2026, Canadians made 5.5 million trips involving a U.S. visit, down 10.6% year over year, while spending fell 13.6% to C$5 billion. In other words, travel has improved from its weakest comparisons without returning to the old baseline.

New York Is Offering Canadians a More Explicit Welcome

Few places illustrate the stakes better than New York. Canadian visitation to New York State fell by more than 26% in 2025, prompting the state to introduce a “NY Loves Canada” promotion highlighting discounts on accommodations, restaurants, attractions and other experiences. The effort directly addresses one practical barrier as well: the exchange rate can make a U.S. trip considerably more expensive for someone earning and saving in Canadian dollars.

New York City launched an even more targeted Northern Neighbour Deal. More than 85 participating hotels, attractions, Broadway productions, restaurants and cultural organizations offered Canadians discounts of 30%, while Porter Airlines advertised discounts of up to 20% on New York itineraries. The market remains valuable despite the slump. Canadian travellers are forecast to account for about 820,000 New York City visitors in 2026, making Canada the city’s second-largest international source market. That is enough business to make rebuilding the relationship economically important.

Las Vegas Tested Whether Better Value Could Bring Canadians Back

Downtown Las Vegas took an unusually direct approach to the currency problem. Circa Resort & Casino, the D Las Vegas and Golden Gate Hotel & Casino ran an “At Par” promotion through August 31, 2026, providing eligible Canadian guests with one-to-one Canadian-dollar value on selected hotel, beverage and gaming offers instead of making them absorb the normal exchange-rate difference.

The completed promotion offered an important real-world test of whether Canadians could still be persuaded by sufficiently attractive value. The participating properties reported more than 120,000 Canadian visitors during the campaign, an 80% increase in Canadian visitation at the three properties. They also reported more than 8,000 hotel room nights and over US$20 million in slot play. The broader national travel slump clearly did not eliminate Canadian interest in Las Vegas. Instead, the results suggest price, perceived value and the feeling of being actively welcomed can still influence where some travellers choose to spend.

The Effort to Rebuild Tourism Is Becoming National

Local discounts are now being supplemented by a wider U.S. tourism push. Brand USA, the country’s destination-marketing organization, is bringing its Travel Week program to Canada in October 2026. The four-day event is scheduled for Toronto and Montreal and is designed to connect U.S. destinations with Canadian travel buyers, advisers and media. It is a notable investment in restoring one of America’s most important international tourism relationships.

The urgency extends beyond Canada. U.S. Travel Association figures show international arrivals to the United States fell 5.5% in 2025 to 68.3 million, with reduced Canadian visitation identified as a major driver. Its spring forecast projected 70.6 million international visits in 2026 but did not expect the U.S. to recover its 2019 international visitor volume until 2029. Industry leaders meeting with President Donald Trump on September 2 set an even larger objective: reaching 100 million international visitors annually by 2030.

The Coming Snowbird Season May Show Whether the Change Lasts

The next major test will arrive when colder weather sends Canadian snowbirds searching for warmer destinations. Florida recorded about 3.17 million Canadian visitors in 2025 after its estimates were revised, but that was still approximately 6.8% below 2024. California experienced an even steeper decline, with Canadian visitation falling about 20.1%. Visit California’s 2026 forecast anticipates only a modest recovery under its baseline outlook.

There is also evidence that some Canadians have changed destinations for reasons beyond price. The Associated Press recently profiled a Vancouver family that once regularly vacationed in places such as San Diego, Portland and Seattle but chose Mexico instead amid strained Canada-U.S. relations. Stories like that show the difficulty facing American tourism marketers. Discounts can offset exchange rates and advertising can emphasize hospitality, but rebuilding a travel habit also depends on sentiment. If another winter passes with snowbirds and families choosing alternatives, the shift could become increasingly entrenched.

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