TORONTO — Canadians continued to travel in strong numbers during the first quarter of 2026, but where they went shifted notably, with visits to the U.S. falling sharply while overseas travel gained ground.

According to the latest National Travel Survey and Visitor Travel Survey from Statistics Canada, Canadian residents took 78.7 million trips within Canada and abroad from January through March, up 1.5% from the same period in 2025.

Domestic travel accounted for the bulk of that activity. Canadians took 69.1 million trips that included a domestic visit, up 2.3% year over year.

Same-day domestic visits rose 3.8% to 48.8 million, while overnight visits slipped 1.2% to 20.4 million. Despite the decline in overnight volume, average trip length increased 3.7%.

Canadian residents spent $14.5 billion on domestic tourism during the quarter, up 5.1% year over year. Average spending came to $101 per same-day visit and $471 per overnight visit, with 

overnight stays averaging 2.8 nights.

U.S. TRAVEL CONTINUES TO WEAKEN

Outbound travel overall declined in the first quarter, with Canadians taking 10 million trips that included a visit abroad, down 3.3%.

The decline was driven by travel to the United States.

Canadian residents took 5.5 million trips that included a U.S. visit, down 10.6% compared with the first quarter of 2025. Of those visits, 37.5% were same-day trips.

Spending in the U.S. also fell sharply, declining 13.6% year over year to $5 billion.

Canadians spent an average of $206 per same-day U.S. visit. For overnight stays, average spending was $1,344 per visit, with an average trip length of 7.9 nights.

OVERSEAS TRIPS AND SPENDING RISE

While U.S. travel fell, Canadians increasingly headed to overseas destinations.

From January through March, Canadian residents took 4.6 million trips that included an overseas visit, up 6.2% from the same period last year.

Spending overseas climbed even faster, rising 16.7% to $10.1 billion.

Average spending per overseas trip reached $2,210, while the average trip length was 13.3 nights.

Mexico was the most visited overseas destination with 1.3 million visits, followed by the Dominican Republic with 441,000 and Costa Rica with 193,000.

Statistics Canada noted that Costa Rica recorded its highest number of Canadian visitors since at least 2018, when data collection for the National Travel Survey began. The agency cited increased direct air service from Canadian airlines as a contributing factor.

Among destinations recording some of the largest year-over-year gains were Japan, up 79,000 Canadian visits, France, up 57,000 and Mexico, up 51,000.

INBOUND TRAVEL ALSO GROWS

Canada also welcomed more international visitors in the first quarter.

Travellers from abroad took 4.5 million trips to Canada, up 3.5% year over year.

U.S. residents accounted for 3.6 million trips, an increase of 3.4%, while their spending rose 16.5% to $3 billion.

Among U.S. trips to Canada, 42.8% were same-day visits. Average spending was $170 per same-day trip and $1,323 per overnight trip, with overnight stays averaging 5.4 nights.

Overseas residents made 990,000 trips to Canada, up 3.7%, while their spending climbed 10.2% to $2.1 billion.

The United Kingdom was the largest overseas source market with 108,000 trips, followed by Mexico with 99,000 and France with 94,000. Mexico recorded the biggest year-over-year increase, up 14,000 visits, followed by the United Kingdom, up 10,000.