US road trips by Canadians fall to lowest level in 4 years

Just over 1 million Canadians returned from the U.S. by car in February, the lowest level in nearly four years.

Statistics Canada data published Tuesday shows Canadian travel to the U.S. continues to decline, even as trips overseas increase.

Return trips by car fell to the lowest level since March 2022, when the Omicron variant of COVID-19 was spreading and some public health measures were still in place. Canada still required all returning travelers to provide a pre-entry COVID-19 test, a requirement it loosened the following month.

Many Canadians began cutting back on travel to the U.S. last year in response to President Donald Trump's tariffs and attacks on Canada's sovereignty, as well as his crackdowns on border security and immigration.

Tuesday's data suggests that Canadians are not warming up to the idea of resuming travel down south.

February marked the 14th straight month of annual declines in the total number of Canadians returning from the U.S., with 14.5% fewer trips than a year ago.

In contrast, Canadian trips overseas by air increased by 7.2%.

Meanwhile, the number of Americans traveling to Canada rose in February by 6.1% from a year earlier, marking the first increase after 12 consecutive months of year-over-year declines.

Copyright 2026 Tribune Content Agency. All Rights Reserved.

This story was originally published March 14, 2026 at 9:21 AM.