Cross-Border Travel Might be Making a Comeback
Destination & Tourism Monica Poling March 20, 2017

After years of declining numbers, it looks like Canadians might be resuming their interest in crossing the border into the United States.
In January, 3.6 million Canadians took a cross-border trip, an increase of 7.2 per cent over December. This is the highest monthly crossing in more than a year. According to Statistics Canada, the increase in traffic is attributable to both same-day car trips (+8.2 percent) and overnight car trips (+9.8 per cent.)
The numbers come as a bit of a surprise as numerous American and international organizations have gone on record predicting a U.S. travel “Trump Slump,” in part because of the widely unpopular travel bans the U.S. president has tried to enact.
READ MORE: Trump Slump travel ban having immediate repercussions.
Additionally, several high-profile Canadian organizations, including the Girl Guides of Canada have publicly declared they will not be travelling to the United States as long as there is a fear that not all members can enter the country.
Still, the numbers reflect the entirety of January, and the U.S. president only took office on January 20 and enacted his first travel-related executive order during the latter part of the month.
READ MORE: Habitat for Humanity students denied entry into the U.S.
The reality is that Canadians were just travelling more in January. In addition to cross-border trips, Canadians also made 1 million trips to overseas countries. Although that number reflected a slight (0.7 per cent) dip from December, it is the highest January for overseas travel since 1972.
January also continued to prove to be a boon for Canada’s inbound tourism industry. Some 2 million Americans travelled to Canada in January, the biggest number of January travellers since 2007. Trips by car, which account for two-thirds of all American travel, increased by 4.3 per cent.
Inbound travellers from overseas markets reached a new record. In total Canada welcomed 559,000 overseas visitors in January, a number that was 15 per cent higher than the previous year. The biggest growth in travellers came from the United Kingdom and China.
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