September air travel stats from Statistics Canada confirm the trend is holding strong: Canadians are favouring domestic travel over the US, and the shift shows no signs of letting up.
Canadian airports screened 2.5 million domestic passengers in September, up 10.2% from the same month in 2024. Toronto Pearson led the growth with a 15.2% year-over-year increase in domestic traveller volumes.
By contrast, transborder air travel to the US dropped 10.5% , with 1.2 million passengers flying south. This marks the eighth consecutive month of year-over-year declines and is 5.4% lower than September 2019, before the pandemic.
Automobile crossings also fell sharply, down 34.8% in September, highlighting Canadians’ reluctance to visit the US amid economic uncertainty and geopolitical tensions.
According to Caribbean News, several US states are feeling the pinch. California, Florida, Texas, Ohio and New York have reported nine consecutive months of tourism declines, including October, attributed to rising costs, shifting travel patterns and economic uncertainty affecting both domestic and international visitors.
California’s tourism sector is responding by targeting domestic travellers, promoting lesser-known destinations and offering value-driven packages to address affordability concerns.
Canadians’ reluctance to travel south is also tied to political factors, including trade tensions and US policy rhetoric. Regions such as Prince Edward Island and Quebec have cut US trips by more than 50%, while Ontario has seen the smallest decline at just under 30%
International Trends
Canadians are not only avoiding the US; they are increasingly choosing overseas destinations. International (non-US) travel rose 6.9% in September 2025, up 13.2% from pre-pandemic levels, with European and Asian routes gaining in popularity. Holiday data suggests Gen X travellers are driving much of this demand, with strong performance on routes in and out of Western Canada.
Though he’d only flown a handful of times as a kid, Chris Daniels’ career has since taken him around the world — from Grand Cayman to Hong Kong. It’s now brought him to the team at Open Jaw. As a former contributing editor at Hello! Canada, he brought the magazine’s food and travel pages to life, covering star-studded events in the Caribbean and US, interviewing celebrity chefs like Gordon Ramsay, Giada De Laurentiis and Emeril Lagasse. He also worked at Time, contributing to its coverage of the US Open tennis tournament in New York City. Fun fact: While much of the world baked bread during the pandemic, Chris and his wife had a beach house built on the Honduran island of Roatan. Called Casa Coral Dreams, they now rent the tropical escape to visitors from around the globe.
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