Canadian-resident return trips from the United States reached 3.2 million in August, an increase of 9.3 per cent compared with the same month in 2025, as cross-border travel continued to rise on an annual basis. Trips to Canada by US residents totalled 3.3 million, up 4.3 per cent, while arrivals by overseas residents reached 935,300, a rise of 5.6 per cent.
The August figures also provide a first full-month snapshot of passenger entries through the newly opened Gordie Howe International Bridge. From 1 to 31 August, 168,000 returning Canadian residents and 110,800 US residents entered Canada by automobile using the Windsor–Detroit crossing. The figures are counts of trips and arrivals, not a tally of distinct individuals.
Canadian trips from the US rise for a fifth month
Canadian residents returned from 4.4 million trips abroad in August, 6 per cent more than a year earlier. The 3.2 million return trips from the United States were the fifth consecutive month of year-on-year growth, following 15 consecutive months of declines. Despite the recent increases, the August 2026 total remained 23.2 per cent below the level recorded in August 2024.
Automobile travel accounted for 2.4 million of the Canadian return trips from the United States, up 10.5 per cent from August 2025. Same-day trips made up 57.8 per cent of that automobile total. Return trips by air rose 4.8 per cent to 637,800, the second consecutive annual increase in that mode since August 2023. Cruise-ship return trips moved in the opposite direction, falling 4.6 per cent to 32,200.
Canadian residents also made 1.2 million return trips from overseas countries during the month. That was 2 per cent fewer than in August last year, contrasting with the growth in trips returning from the United States.
US visits to Canada increase across modes
Trips by US residents to Canada reached 3.3 million in August, marking the seventh consecutive month of year-on-year increases. Automobile arrivals were up 1.6 per cent to 2 million, and 52.9 per cent of those arrivals involved overnight trips. Air arrivals rose 7.1 per cent to 701,800. The number of US residents disembarking from cruise ships in Canada increased 6.5 per cent to 352,100.
These are trip totals across different ways of entering Canada. They should not be read as unique visitor counts, since a person may make more than one trip in the reference period. The categories also describe modes separately; bridge counts by automobile are not the same as total entries at the crossing.
New bridge’s first August passenger totals
The Gordie Howe International Bridge opened on 27 July and spans the Detroit River between Windsor, Ontario, and Detroit, Michigan. Its August figures record automobile entries into Canada: 168,000 returning Canadian residents and 110,800 US residents. The same release lists a further 10,600 returning Canadian residents and 11,000 US residents entering by other modes, including bus, motorcycle and on foot.
The bridge supplements the Ambassador Bridge and the Windsor–Detroit Tunnel, the two established crossings serving Windsor. The August data describe activity at the new port during its first complete calendar month after opening. They do not, by themselves, establish whether the bridge drew trips away from other crossings or created additional travel.
Overseas arrivals rise, led by Europe and Asia
Canada received 935,300 arrivals by overseas residents in August, up 5.6 per cent year on year. Air travel accounted for 79.9 per cent of those arrivals. By volume, arrivals from Europe increased by 43,400, or 9.3 per cent, while arrivals from Asia rose by 11,000, or 5.4 per cent. Those gains more than offset decreases from Oceania and from the Americas excluding the United States.
The three leading countries of residence for overseas visitors were the United Kingdom, France and Germany, which together accounted for 33.7 per cent of overseas arrivals. The monthly figures are unadjusted unless otherwise specified. Separately, seasonally adjusted estimates showed Canadian return trips from abroad edging up 0.2 per cent from July, with US-resident arrivals up 3.4 per cent and overseas-resident arrivals up 1.2 per cent.
The next monthly release, covering September, is scheduled for 23 November. Until then, the August counts offer a detailed view of travel volumes by residence and mode, including the opening-month data available for the Gordie Howe crossing.
