Canada Tourism Statistics Updated November 2026

Human Written & Fact Checked · Updated

160 Canada Tourism Statistics for 2026

Visitors from abroad made 19.8 million overnight trips to Canada in 2025, still below the record year of 2019. Counting day trips, US residents made 22.8 million trips to Canada. Canadians and visitors from abroad together spent $140.5 billion on tourism in Canada, and tourism supported 687,800 jobs.

This page gathers the official figures on Canada tourism in one place: arrivals and source markets, the 2026 trend, travel between Canada and the United States, spending, travel by Canadians at home, the provinces and cities, national parks, hotels, airports and cruise ports, the seasons and weather, safety and the forecasts. Every number links to the body that published it, with the date.

Canada counts visitors at the border and through surveys, and the two give different totals. From 2025 Statistics Canada's border counts include extra air traveller records from the Canada Border Services Agency, so 2025 and 2026 are not exactly like-for-like with earlier years. Canadians returning home are counted separately and are never treated as visitors here.

Headline figures

How many tourists visit Canada each year?

Visitor numbers grew through the 2010s to a record in 2019, collapsed during the pandemic and have since recovered to about nine-tenths of the peak. Overnight trips from abroad in 2025 were still about a tenth below the 2019 record.

25.62m 2010 25.07m 2011 25.32m 2012 25.17m 2013 25.56m 2014 27.55m 2015 30.14m 2016 31.08m 2017 31.27m 2018 32.43m 2019 5.07m 2020 4.28m 2021 17.92m 2022 27.21m 2023 29.82m 2024 29.62m 2025
View data table
Non-resident visitor arrivals to Canada, day trips included, 2010 to 2025, calculated from Statistics Canada monthly data. 2025 includes extra airport records that earlier years do not.
PeriodValue
201025.62m
201125.07m
201225.32m
201325.17m
201425.56m
201527.55m
201630.14m
201731.08m
201831.27m
201932.43m
20205.07m
20214.28m
202217.92m
202327.21m
202429.82m
202529.62m
Non-resident visitor arrivals to Canada, day trips included, 2010 to 2025, calculated from Statistics Canada monthly data. 2025 includes extra airport records that earlier years do not. (Statistics Canada (frontier counts), Oct 2026)

Arrivals count trips, so a person who enters twice counts twice, and include same-day visitors unless the text says overnight. From 2025 the border counts include extra air traveller records, so 2025 is not exactly comparable with earlier years. Annual totals marked as calculated are our sums of Statistics Canada's monthly values in the current version of the table, which can differ slightly from figures first published. The 2019 overnight record is from that year's own release. The US share is our calculation.

Where do Canada's visitors come from?

The United States sends about three in four visitors to Canada. Among overseas countries the UK leads, followed by France, India and Mexico, while China sends about half as many visitors as before the pandemic.

  1. 1 United Kingdom 888,238
  2. 2 France 664,014
  3. 3 India 476,994
  4. 4 Mexico 418,688
  5. 5 China 380,948
  6. 6 Germany 364,774
  7. 7 Australia 320,809
  8. 8 South Korea 202,835
  9. 9 Japan 176,699
  10. 10 Brazil 145,790
Canada's 10 largest overseas markets by visitor arrivals in 2025, calculated from Statistics Canada monthly data. The US is left out because it is far larger. (Statistics Canada (frontier counts), Oct 2026)

Markets are by country of residence and include same-day visitors, a small share for overseas markets. Hong Kong and Taiwan are counted separately from China. Annual country totals are our sums of Statistics Canada's monthly values, and the shares and changes against 2019 are our calculations. Counts from 2025 include extra airport records, so comparisons with 2024 and 2019 are approximate.

Are visitor numbers to Canada rising in 2026?

Yes. Arrivals from the US and from overseas have been above 2025 in most months of 2026, and the summer was the busiest since 2019. The months of 2025 and 2026 are counted on the same basis.

0.89m Jan 0.99m Feb 1.11m Mar 1.27m Apr 1.82m May 2.49m Jun 3.12m Jul 2.83m Aug
View data table
Overnight visitors from abroad arriving in Canada by month, January to August 2026.
PeriodValue
Jan0.89m
Feb0.99m
Mar1.11m
Apr1.27m
May1.82m
Jun2.49m
Jul3.12m
Aug2.83m
Overnight visitors from abroad arriving in Canada by month, January to August 2026. (Statistics Canada (frontier counts), Oct 2026)
  • 4,222,163 non-resident visitors entered Canada in August 2026, up 4.6% on August 2025. (Statistics Canada (frontier counts), Oct 2026)
  • US residents made 3.3 million trips to Canada in August 2026, up 4.3%, the seventh month in a row above the year before. Their trips by air rose 7.1% to 701,800. (Statistics Canada (frontier counts), Oct 2026)
  • 935,300 overseas residents arrived in August 2026, up 5.6%. 79.9% came by air, and the UK, France and Germany together made up 33.7% of them. (Statistics Canada (frontier counts), Oct 2026)
  • In January to August 2026, US residents made 17,026,832 arrivals, up 6.7%, and overseas residents 4,871,507, up 3.3%, calculated from monthly data. (Statistics Canada (frontier counts), Oct 2026)
  • US residents made 3.5 million trips to Canada in July 2026, up 9.1%, and US cruise passengers getting off in Canada rose 28.8% to 367,800. (Statistics Canada (frontier counts), Sep 2026)
  • 3,119,868 overnight visitors from abroad arrived in July 2026, up 6.5% on July 2025. Every month of 2026 except January was above the same month of 2025. (Statistics Canada (frontier counts), Oct 2026)
  • On the preliminary count for September 2026, US-resident trips by air and car rose 17.2% to 1,806,757, partly because Labour Day fell a week later than in 2025. (Statistics Canada (leading indicator), Oct 2026)
  • Overseas-resident trips by air and car rose 7.3% to 611,733 in September 2026, and all arrivals by air and car, Canadians returning home included, rose 9.5% to 5.3 million. (Statistics Canada (leading indicator), Oct 2026)
  • Arrivals from the 15 countries that played FIFA World Cup games in Canada rose 28.6% in June 2026 on June 2025. (Statistics Canada (National Tourism Indicators), Sep 2026)
  • In July 2026, arrivals from the five overseas countries that played World Cup matches in Canada rose 19.5% (8,600 more), led by Colombia, Switzerland and Portugal. (Statistics Canada (frontier counts), Sep 2026)

The September figures are a preliminary leading indicator that covers air and car travel only, and from August 2026 it includes new NEXUS highway data, so it is not comparable with the complete monthly counts. Complete September counts are due on 23 November 2026. Statistics Canada says the World Cup rises coincided with the matches; it does not say the games caused them. The year-to-date changes and the July change are our calculations.

How has travel between Canada and the US changed?

Canadians made far fewer trips to the United States in 2025 and more trips at home and overseas. Return trips from the US have grown year on year since spring 2026 but are still well below 2024.

39.0m US 2024 29.1m US 2025 13.0m Overseas 2024 14.2m Overseas 2025
View data table
Trips abroad by Canadian residents, in millions, by destination, 2024 and 2025. The 2024 values are as published a year earlier; 2025 counts include extra airport records.
PeriodValue
US 202439.0m
US 202529.1m
Overseas 202413.0m
Overseas 202514.2m
Trips abroad by Canadian residents, in millions, by destination, 2024 and 2025. The 2024 values are as published a year earlier; 2025 counts include extra airport records. (Statistics Canada (frontier counts), Feb 2026)
  • International arrivals, counting non-resident visitors and Canadians coming home, totalled 72.9 million in 2025, down 10.9% and 82.3% of the 2019 level. It was the first annual fall since 2016 outside the pandemic. (Statistics Canada (frontier counts), Feb 2026)
  • Canadians made 39.0 million trips to the US in 2024, up 4.4%, and 13.0 million overseas trips, the first time above 2019. (Statistics Canada (frontier counts), Feb 2025)
  • Overseas trips by Canadians rose 9.2% to 14.2 million in 2025, and Canadians made 43.3 million trips abroad in all. (Statistics Canada (frontier counts), Feb 2026)
  • Leaving out the pandemic, the 11 months of falls in 2025 were the deepest and longest on record for return crossings from the US. A monthly fall of more than 30% had happened only once before, in September 2001. (Statistics Canada (Economic and Social Reports), Jul 2026)
  • The US made up three-quarters of Canadians' return crossings from abroad in 2024 and two-thirds by the end of 2025. (Statistics Canada (Economic and Social Reports), Jul 2026)
  • Canadians spent $3.3 billion less on US visits in 2025, $18.8 billion in all, while spending on overseas leisure visits rose to $22.8 billion. (Statistics Canada (Economic and Social Reports), Jul 2026)
  • The drop of 7.1 million US visits was almost fully offset by 5.0 million more domestic visits and more overseas travel, with visits to Europe up 13.6% and Asia up 16.7%. (Statistics Canada (Economic and Social Reports), Jul 2026)
  • Leisure visits to the US fell 21.5% in 2025, while visits to friends and relatives there fell 9.0%. (Statistics Canada (Economic and Social Reports), Jul 2026)
  • Canadian trips that included a US visit fell to 23.1 million in 2025, down 23.5% on 2024 and 26.7% on 2019. Overseas visits rose 10.2% to 14.3 million, with $31.3 billion spent on them. (Statistics Canada (National Travel Survey), May 2026)
  • In the first quarter of 2026, Canadians took 5.5 million trips that included a US visit, down 10.6%, and spent $5.0 billion there. Mexico was the most visited overseas country, with 1.3 million visits. (Statistics Canada (National Travel Survey), Aug 2026)
  • Canadians made 3.2 million return trips from the US in August 2026, up 9.3%, the fifth monthly rise after 15 months of falls, but 23.2% below August 2024. (Statistics Canada (frontier counts), Oct 2026)
  • In July 2026, Canadian return trips from the US by air rose 0.6% to 567,000, the first rise since August 2023, ending 34 months of falls. (Statistics Canada (frontier counts), Sep 2026)
  • On the preliminary count, Canadian return trips from the US in September 2026 were 31.1% below September 2024 by car and 18.7% below by air, although both grew on September 2025. (Statistics Canada (leading indicator), Oct 2026)

Border counts record return trips at the border; the National Travel Survey counts visits reported by travellers, and one trip can include several visits, so the two give different totals and changes. Statistics Canada links the shift to the change of US administration in early 2025. From 2025 the border counts include extra airport records, so comparisons of 2025 and 2026 with 2024 and earlier are approximate. September 2026 figures are preliminary.

How much do international visitors spend in Canada?

Visitors from abroad spent more in 2025 than in 2024 although they made slightly fewer trips. Overseas visitors spend far more per trip than Americans because they stay about three times as long.

  1. 1 Overseas visitor $1,791
  2. 2 US overnight visitor $1,132
  3. 3 Canadian overnight visit $462
  4. 4 US same-day visitor $143
  5. 5 Canadian same-day visit $103
Average spending per trip or visit in Canada, October to December 2025, in Canadian dollars. Canadian figures are domestic visits from the National Travel Survey. (Statistics Canada (Visitor Travel Survey), May 2026)

The Visitor Travel Survey measures what travellers report spending on their trips. The national tourism accounts figure is a different measure built for the national accounts, which includes items such as fares paid to Canadian carriers, so the two totals differ and should not be compared. Quarterly figures are not seasonally adjusted, and the fourth quarter is off-season. All values are in Canadian dollars, not adjusted for inflation.

How much do Canadians travel in their own country?

Canadians are by far the largest market for Canadian tourism. They make more than five domestic overnight trips for every overnight trip into Canada from abroad, and supply about three dollars in four of all tourism spending.

  • Canadian residents 75%
  • Visitors from abroad 25%
Who spent the money on tourism in Canada in 2025: Canadian residents and visitors from abroad, as shares of total spending in the national tourism accounts. (Statistics Canada (Tourism in Canada, 2025), Jul 2026)

The National Travel Survey counts visits and traveller spending, including same-day trips, and from 2025 it counts travellers of all ages, so it differs slightly from earlier editions. The national tourism accounts measure domestic tourism demand on a wider basis, so $81.3 billion and $105.6 billion are different measures and are not compared. The trip ratio and shares are our calculations.

What is tourism worth to Canada's economy?

Tourism produces just under 2% of Canada's GDP, a smaller share than in 2019 although spending is at a record in current dollars. It supports close to 700,000 jobs and raises a large tax take.

$28.6bn 2010 $30.2bn 2011 $31.4bn 2012 $32.1bn 2013 $33.6bn 2014 $35.9bn 2015 $37.6bn 2016 $39.7bn 2017 $41.7bn 2018 $43.6bn 2019 $20.8bn 2020 $24.1bn 2021 $41.1bn 2022 $49.3bn 2023 $51.7bn 2024 $53.6bn 2025
View data table
Tourism GDP in Canada in current dollars, billions, 2010 to 2025, calculated from Statistics Canada quarterly data.
PeriodValue
2010$28.6bn
2011$30.2bn
2012$31.4bn
2013$32.1bn
2014$33.6bn
2015$35.9bn
2016$37.6bn
2017$39.7bn
2018$41.7bn
2019$43.6bn
2020$20.8bn
2021$24.1bn
2022$41.1bn
2023$49.3bn
2024$51.7bn
2025$53.6bn
Tourism GDP in Canada in current dollars, billions, 2010 to 2025, calculated from Statistics Canada quarterly data. (Statistics Canada (National Tourism Indicators), Sep 2026)

All figures use Statistics Canada's June 2026 revision of the national tourism indicators, which changed every value from 2020 to 2025; older published figures for jobs and tourism GDP are superseded. Tourism GDP and jobs count only what visitor spending directly supports. The 1 in 10 figure counts all jobs in tourism industries, including those serving local customers, and is a wider measure. Current-dollar values are not adjusted for inflation; growth rates are real. Annual GDP is our sum of four quarters and annual jobs and shares are our averages of quarterly values.

Which provinces do visitors go to?

Ontario, British Columbia and Quebec take most visitors from abroad, measured by where they cross the border. Each province measures tourism its own way, so provincial totals cannot be added up or compared with each other.

  1. 1 Ontario 8.92m
  2. 2 British Columbia 5.03m
  3. 3 Quebec 3.50m
  4. 4 Alberta 1.36m
  5. 5 New Brunswick 0.33m
  6. 6 Nova Scotia 0.22m
  7. 7 Manitoba 0.22m
Overnight visitors from abroad by province where they entered Canada, 2025, calculated from Statistics Canada monthly data. A visitor counts in the province where they crossed the border, not where they stayed. (Statistics Canada (frontier counts), Oct 2026)
  • In 2025, 8,923,278 overnight visitors from abroad entered Canada through Ontario, 5,029,499 through British Columbia, 3,496,528 through Quebec and 1,361,918 through Alberta, calculated from monthly data. (Statistics Canada (frontier counts), Oct 2026)
  • Toronto Pearson airport was the busiest entry point, with 4,222,194 overnight visitors from abroad in 2025, followed by Vancouver (2,793,449), Montreal (2,144,624), Calgary (1,065,396) and the Douglas land crossing in BC (905,950). (Statistics Canada (frontier counts), Oct 2026)
  • Border crossings in the Niagara area counted 2,381,734 overnight visitors from abroad entering Canada in 2025: 919,179 at Fort Erie, 893,182 at the Rainbow Bridge and 532,775 at the Queenston Bridge. (Statistics Canada (frontier counts), Oct 2026)
  • Canadians made 119.6 million visits to Ontario in 2024 and spent $24.8 billion. 66.1% of the visits were same-day, 93.5% were by Ontario residents and the Greater Toronto Area took 17.5%. (Statistics Canada (StatsCAN Plus), Sep 2025)
  • 90.0% of Canadians' visits to Ontario in 2024 were by car or truck. 44.6% were to see friends or relatives and 37.2% for leisure. (Statistics Canada (StatsCAN Plus), Sep 2025)
  • Quebec's tourism receipts reached a record of nearly $19 billion in 2025, up about 4.8%, and the province counted 67 million visitors, against 61 million in 2018. (Quebec Ministry of Tourism, Mar 2026)
  • British Columbia's tourism revenue was $23.0 billion in 2024, and tourism added nearly $8.0 billion, or 3%, to the BC economy, more than oil and gas ($5.2 billion) or mining ($4.9 billion). (Destination BC, Feb 2026)
  • 113,760 people were directly employed in tourism in British Columbia in 2024, in 16,925 tourism businesses. (Destination BC, Feb 2026)
  • In January to July 2026, 3,129,962 international overnight visitors entered Canada through BC, up 5.1% on 2025 but 16.1% below 2019, and 4,118,202 US residents. (Destination BC, Sep 2026)
  • Travel Alberta estimates that visitors spent $15.2 billion in Alberta in 2025, a growth of more than 6%. It is a preliminary estimate modelled from lodging data. (Travel Alberta, Feb 2026)

Entry counts show where visitors crossed the border: an American who drives in at Niagara and on to Quebec counts in Ontario, and many Banff visitors land in Vancouver or Toronto first. The Niagara figure is a border-crossing count of overnight visitors from abroad, not a count of visitors to Niagara Falls. Quebec, BC and Alberta each use their own methods, in current dollars. BC's 2024 values come from a revised method and the publisher says they should not be compared with earlier editions. The Alberta figure is a preliminary model estimate; a final figure was due in spring 2026. The Ontario figures cover Canadian residents only.

How many visitors do Toronto and Vancouver get?

Toronto counted a record number of visitors in 2025, most of them Canadians. Metro Vancouver counts overnight visitors only, and its 2025 total was above its 2019 level.

11.02m 2019 3.04m 2020 4.03m 2021 8.80m 2022 10.95m 2023
View data table
Overnight visitors to Metro Vancouver, millions, 2019 to 2023, from Destination Vancouver's visitor volume model.
PeriodValue
201911.02m
20203.04m
20214.03m
20228.80m
202310.95m
Overnight visitors to Metro Vancouver, millions, 2019 to 2023, from Destination Vancouver's visitor volume model. (Destination Vancouver, 2024)
  • Toronto drew a record 28.2 million visitors in 2025, day trips included, who spent a record $9.1 billion, up 4%. (Destination Toronto, Jan 2026)
  • Canadians made 25 million of Toronto's visits, up 3%. US visits fell 6%, while overseas visits rose 8% to 1.4 million. (Destination Toronto, Jan 2026)
  • Metro Vancouver received 11.3 million overnight visitors in 2025 and $8.8 billion in tourism revenue. Tourism supported more than 66,000 jobs and $3.1 billion in labour income there. (Destination Vancouver, 2026)
  • Metro Vancouver had 11,020,193 overnight visitors in 2019, 3,042,503 in 2020 and 10,947,070 in 2023. (Destination Vancouver, 2024)
  • Vancouver's overnight visitor count was 6,511,606 in 1994, the first year of the series. (Destination Vancouver, 2024)

City figures come from each city's tourism agency and use different methods: Toronto counts day and overnight visitors, Vancouver overnight visitors only, so the two cannot be compared. Destination Toronto does not publish its method. Vancouver's 2025 figure comes from a different page from the 1994-2023 series, and no 2024 value was found. Montreal is left out because its latest totals could not be checked against the source.

Which national parks get the most visitors?

Banff is by far the busiest national park, and Jasper has recovered from its wildfire year. The Rockies parks and the historic sites in Quebec City, Montreal and Halifax draw the largest numbers, while some Arctic parks see only a handful of visits.

  1. 1 Banff 4.56m
  2. 2 Jasper 2.39m
  3. 3 Pacific Rim 1.21m
  4. 4 Prince Edward Island 0.85m
  5. 5 Mount Revelstoke and Glacier 0.83m
  6. 6 Yoho 0.74m
  7. 7 Waterton Lakes 0.59m
  8. 8 Kootenay 0.58m
  9. 9 Bruce Peninsula 0.55m
Canada's most visited national parks, April 2025 to March 2026. (Parks Canada, Jun 2026)
  • Jasper recovered to 2,392,849 visits in 2025-26, the second-highest of any national park. (Parks Canada, Jun 2026)
  • In 2024-25, the year of the July 2024 wildfire, Jasper's visits fell to 1,142,080, while Banff had 4,230,156. (Parks Canada, 2025)
  • In 2023-24, Banff had 4,288,003 visits and Jasper 2,407,529. (Parks Canada, 2024)
  • Banff had 4,130,081 visits in 2022-23. (Parks Canada, May 2023)
  • In 2019-20, before the pandemic, Banff had 4,121,062 visits, Jasper 2,463,419 and the Halifax Citadel 534,670. (Parks Canada, Dec 2020)
  • Pacific Rim National Park Reserve on Vancouver Island had 1,212,426 visits in 2025-26, and Saguenay-St. Lawrence Marine Park 1,179,828. (Parks Canada, Jun 2026)
  • Mount Revelstoke and Glacier had 834,939 visits, Yoho 743,775, Waterton Lakes 589,056, Kootenay 578,263 and Elk Island 478,973. (Parks Canada, Jun 2026)
  • In the east, Prince Edward Island National Park had 852,834 visits, Bruce Peninsula 552,319, Point Pelee 533,763, Riding Mountain 361,011, Fundy 299,530, La Mauricie 297,662 and Cape Breton Highlands 296,647. (Parks Canada, Jun 2026)
  • The least visited were in the Arctic: Quttinirpaaq had 11 visits, Aulavik and Tuktut Nogait 14 each, Sirmilik 44 and Wapusk 81. (Parks Canada, Jun 2026)
  • The Fortifications of Quebec were the busiest historic site, with 2,224,062 visits, ahead of the Lachine Canal in Montreal (1,492,668), the Halifax Citadel (1,088,705) and the Rideau Canal (888,454). (Parks Canada, Jun 2026)
  • Places run by Parks Canada had 23.2 million visits in 2024-25, down from 23.7 million in 2023-24, after 22.5 million in 2022-23. (Parks Canada, 2025)

Parks Canada counts person-visits, so one person visiting twice counts twice. Its year runs from April to March. Each year is taken from that year's own dataset. Gros Morne could not report for 2025-26 and is left out. Mount Revelstoke and Glacier are reported together. The system total covers national parks, historic sites and marine conservation areas, and no 2025-26 total was published in the dataset.

How busy are Canada's hotels and short-term rentals?

Canada's accommodation businesses earned a record in 2024, and hotels sell much more to customers from abroad than they did in 2021. In Quebec, whose statistics office surveys occupancy, about three in five rooms were filled in 2025.

41.3% 2021 57.1% 2022 61.4% 2023 60.9% 2024 60.8% 2025
View data table
Occupancy of hotels and tourist residences in Quebec, 2021 to 2025.
PeriodValue
202141.3%
202257.1%
202361.4%
202460.9%
202560.8%
Occupancy of hotels and tourist residences in Quebec, 2021 to 2025. (ISQ, Oct 2026)
  • Canada's accommodation services earned a record $35.9 billion in operating revenue in 2024, and hotels, motor hotels and motels $30.0 billion, up 4.1%. (Statistics Canada (accommodation services), Dec 2025)
  • Ontario took 30.2% of accommodation revenue in 2024, British Columbia 22.2%, Quebec 17.0% and Alberta 16.7%. (Statistics Canada (accommodation services), Dec 2025)
  • Sales by Canadian hotels to customers outside Canada rose from 6.8% of sales in 2021 to 16.6% in 2024. (Statistics Canada (accommodation services), Dec 2025)
  • Quebec's hotels and tourist residences were 60.8% full in 2025, against 60.9% in 2024 and 41.3% in 2021. (ISQ, Oct 2026)
  • Occupancy in the Montreal region was 68.5% in 2025, down 2.5 points from 71.0%, and 67.7% in the Quebec City region, up 2.4 points. (ISQ, Oct 2026)
  • The average price per rented unit in Quebec was $204.00 a night in 2025, up 3.7%, with $229.40 in the Montreal region and $223.40 in the Quebec City region. (ISQ, Oct 2026)
  • Quebec's hotels and tourist residences earned a record of about $3.6 billion in 2025 from 17.8 million units rented out of just over 29 million available. The Montreal region took about 38%. (ISQ, Oct 2026)
  • Counting campsites as well, more than 24.5 million accommodation units were rented in Quebec in 2025, nearly 2.7 million more than in 2018. (Quebec Ministry of Tourism, Mar 2026)
  • Downtown Vancouver hotels were 76% full in January to June 2026, with an average daily rate of $343 and revenue per available room of $262, both up 11%. The June rate was $518, up 26%. (Destination Vancouver, 2026)
  • Only 6.6% of Canadians' visits to Ontario in 2024 included a hotel stay, and traveller accommodation prices in Ontario rose 52.0% from 2021 to 2024. (Statistics Canada (StatsCAN Plus), Sep 2025)
  • Canada had about 355,070 short-term rental listings in 2023, up more than 60% from 214,808 in 2017. 107,266 of them were whole units available most of the year. (Statistics Canada (short-term rentals), Jul 2024)
  • In 2021, Toronto had 35,939 short-term rental units, Montreal 24,909 and Vancouver 18,947. (Statistics Canada (short-term rentals), Jul 2024)

Revenue is in current dollars. Quebec's survey covers hotels and tourist residences with four or more units; its price is per unit rented per night, close to an average daily rate. Quebec's 2022 short-term rental law affects comparisons across years. Downtown Vancouver figures cover downtown hotels only. Short-term rental counts are from 2023 and 2021, before British Columbia's 2024 principal-residence rule and Quebec's rules took full effect, so they are likely out of date; they come from AirDNA listing data analysed by Statistics Canada.

How do visitors get to Canada?

Most overseas visitors fly, and Toronto Pearson is the busiest airport by a wide margin. Air traffic in 2025 was almost back to 2019, though flights to and from the US carried fewer passengers. Cruise traffic is above its pre-pandemic level.

  1. 1 Toronto Pearson 46.00m
  2. 2 Vancouver 26.01m
  3. 3 Montreal-Trudeau 21.53m
  4. 4 Calgary 18.80m
  5. 5 Edmonton 7.66m
  6. 6 Ottawa 4.73m
  7. 7 Halifax 4.02m
  8. 8 Quebec City 1.76m
Passengers boarding or leaving planes at Canada's largest airports in 2025, on Statistics Canada's count. (Statistics Canada (airport traffic), Jul 2026)
  • Air passenger traffic in 2025 was 97.6% of the 2019 level, and passengers on flights to and from the US fell 7.9%. (Statistics Canada (airport traffic), Jul 2026)
  • Canadian airports handled 162,864,077 passengers in 2019, the peak, and 46,349,535 in 2020. (Statistics Canada (airport traffic), Jul 2026)
  • On Statistics Canada's count, Toronto Pearson handled 45,998,881 passengers in 2025, up 0.4%, against 49,187,804 in 2019. 18,084,311 were on international flights other than to the US, 16,439,411 on domestic flights and 11,475,159 on US flights. (Statistics Canada (airport traffic), Jul 2026)
  • On Statistics Canada's count, Vancouver International handled 26,013,167 passengers in 2025, up 2.7% and above 2019 (25,738,851). (Statistics Canada (airport traffic), Jul 2026)
  • Montreal-Trudeau handled 21,531,258 passengers, slightly fewer than 21,622,409 in 2024 but above 2019 (19,578,357). Calgary handled 18,803,183, up 2.0%. (Statistics Canada (airport traffic), Jul 2026)
  • Edmonton handled 7,658,691 passengers, Ottawa 4,732,563 and Halifax 4,020,914 in 2025, all below 2019, while Quebec City's 1,764,289 was above its 2019 total of 1,724,422. (Statistics Canada (airport traffic), Jul 2026)
  • 58.2 million passengers were screened at Canada's eight largest airports in 2025, up 2.1% on 2024. (Statistics Canada (airport traffic), Feb 2026)
  • In August 2026, its first full month, the Gordie Howe International Bridge between Windsor and Detroit carried 168,000 returning Canadians and 110,800 US residents into Canada by car. (Statistics Canada (frontier counts), Oct 2026)
  • 1.9 million international cruise passengers got off ships in Canada in 2025, down 1.5% on 2024 but 31.4% above 2019. (Statistics Canada (frontier counts), Feb 2026)
  • July 2026 was the Port of Vancouver's busiest cruise month in its records since 2008, with 293,787 passengers on 79 calls. (Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, Oct 2026)
  • The Port of Vancouver handled 1,176,386 cruise passengers on 300 voyages in 2025, after 1,327,309 in 2024. (Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, Mar 2026)
  • The Port of Quebec welcomed nearly 140,000 cruise passengers on 103 calls by 35 ships in 2025, its first year with cruise calls from January to November. (Port of Quebec, Nov 2025)

Airport figures count passengers boarding and leaving revenue flights, including Canadians, so they are not visitor counts. They are Statistics Canada's counts; the airports' own published totals are higher because they count differently and are not used here. Screened passengers are departing passengers through security, a different measure. Port of Vancouver figures count passengers at both boarding and leaving, so a round-trip passenger who starts there counts twice; the 2026 season ran to October. The Quebec figure is rounded by the port.

When is the best time to visit Canada?

Summer is the peak. July is the busiest month for visitors from abroad, and June to August bring about two in five overnight trips. Winters are cold almost everywhere except Vancouver, which is mild but wettest from November to January.

0.91m Jan 0.95m Feb 1.06m Mar 1.24m Apr 1.67m May 2.40m Jun 2.93m Jul 2.66m Aug 1.86m Sep 1.61m Oct 1.04m Nov 1.47m Dec
View data table
Overnight visitors from abroad arriving in Canada by month, 2025.
PeriodValue
Jan0.91m
Feb0.95m
Mar1.06m
Apr1.24m
May1.67m
Jun2.40m
Jul2.93m
Aug2.66m
Sep1.86m
Oct1.61m
Nov1.04m
Dec1.47m
Overnight visitors from abroad arriving in Canada by month, 2025. (Statistics Canada (frontier counts), Oct 2026)
  • In 2025, overnight visitors from abroad peaked in July at 2,929,752, about 3.2 times January's 906,707. (Statistics Canada (frontier counts), Oct 2026)
  • Counting day trips, February 2025 was the quietest month, with 1,391,190 arrivals, against 4,250,749 in July. July and August brought 28% of the year's arrivals. (Statistics Canada (frontier counts), Oct 2026)
  • Metro Vancouver's overnight visitors peaked at 1,452,743 in August 2023, against 573,652 in February. (Destination Vancouver, 2024)
  • Toronto averages -5.0°C in January and 22.1°C in July, when daily highs reach 27.4°C. It gets 806.8 mm of rain and snow a year and 114.5 cm of snowfall. (Environment and Climate Change Canada, 2022)
  • Vancouver averages 4.1°C in January and 18.2°C in July and August. It gets 1,159.5 mm of precipitation a year: 174.6 mm in November but 34.1 mm in July. (Environment and Climate Change Canada, 2022)
  • Montreal averages -9.2°C in January and 21.7°C in July, and gets 216.6 cm of snow a year, nearly twice as much as Toronto. (Environment and Climate Change Canada, 2022)
  • Quebec City is the coldest of the main tourist cities in winter, averaging -11.9°C in January, and averages 19.5°C in July. (Environment and Climate Change Canada, 2022)
  • Banff averages -8.5°C in January and 14.7°C in July. July days reach 22.5°C but nights fall to 6.8°C, and the town gets 183.8 cm of snow a year. (Environment and Climate Change Canada, 2022)
  • Calgary, the airport for Banff, averages -7.6°C in January and 16.9°C in July. June is its wettest month, with 112.7 mm of its 445.4 mm a year. (Environment and Climate Change Canada, 2022)

Monthly arrivals are not seasonally adjusted. The ratios and shares are our calculations. Weather figures are 1991-2020 averages from the national weather service, mostly at airport stations, which run a little cooler than city centres. Some stations have fewer complete years of data, in particular Banff's snowfall and all Calgary values.

Is Canada safe for visitors?

Police-reported crime in Canada fell in 2025 for the second year running, and the homicide rate dropped. Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa and Quebec City all score below the national crime severity index.

  1. 1 Vancouver 83.5
  2. 2 Canada 75.0
  3. 3 Victoria 74.6
  4. 4 Halifax 68.6
  5. 5 Calgary 61.7
  6. 6 Montreal 61.3
  7. 7 Toronto 55.0
  8. 8 Quebec City 55.0
  9. 9 St. Catharines-Niagara 53.8
  10. 10 Ottawa 50.6
Police-reported Crime Severity Index by metropolitan area, 2025. The index for Canada as a whole is shown for comparison. (Statistics Canada (crime statistics), Jul 2026)

The Crime Severity Index weights police-reported offences by how serious they are, with 2006 set at 100. It covers crime reported to police, not all crime, and is for the whole metropolitan area, not the tourist districts. Ottawa is the Ontario part of Ottawa-Gatineau.

What are Canada's tourism forecasts and targets?

Destination Canada, the national tourism marketing agency, expects strong growth in 2026 and beyond, led by overseas markets. Its figures use its own definitions and are forecasts and targets, not official statistics.

  • Destination Canada's spring 2026 outlook forecasts tourism spending to grow 6.0% in 2026 to $140.9 billion, on its own definition, and total tourism revenue to reach $216.3 billion by 2035, 67% above 2024. (Destination Canada, Apr 2026)
  • The outlook starts from its own estimate of $133 billion in visitor spending in 2025. (Destination Canada, Apr 2026)
  • It forecasts spending from overseas markets to grow 9.8% a year through 2035, about twice the US rate of 5.3% a year. (Destination Canada, Apr 2026)
  • Destination Canada focuses its marketing on nine countries: Australia, China, France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, the UK and the US. (Destination Canada, Apr 2026)
  • Its goal is to make Canada a top-7 travel destination by 2030 with $160 billion in annual tourism revenue, up from $113 billion in 2023 as estimated then. It puts 2024 at nearly $130 billion. (Destination Canada, Mar 2026)
  • Destination Canada estimates that its own work generated nearly $1.9 billion in direct economic impact in 2024, supporting over 11,000 jobs and $223 million in federal tax revenue. (Destination Canada, Mar 2026)

Destination Canada's revenue and spending figures use a different definition from Statistics Canada's national tourism accounts, and its outlook came before Statistics Canada's June 2026 revision, so its numbers cannot be compared with the official figures on this page. Its estimate of its own impact is self-reported. Forecasts are in current dollars.

Glossary

StatCan
Statistics Canada, the national statistics office, which publishes border counts, travel surveys, the national tourism indicators, airport traffic and crime statistics.
Frontier counts
Statistics Canada's count of travellers entering Canada, by residence, from border and airport records. From 2025 it includes extra Canada Border Services Agency air records.
Non-resident visitor
A person living outside Canada who enters the country, on a day trip or overnight. Each entry counts once.
Overnight tourist
A non-resident visitor who stays at least one night in Canada.
Leading indicator
Statistics Canada's early, preliminary count of arrivals by air and car, published before the complete monthly count.
National Tourism Indicators
Statistics Canada's quarterly national accounts of tourism spending, GDP and jobs, built on the tourism satellite account.
Visitor Travel Survey
Statistics Canada's survey of trips and spending by visitors from abroad.
National Travel Survey
Statistics Canada's survey of trips and spending by Canadian residents, at home and abroad.
Tourism GDP
The value added in the economy directly by visitor spending.
CBSA
The Canada Border Services Agency.
Crime Severity Index
A Statistics Canada measure of police-reported crime that weights each offence by its seriousness.
ISQ
Institut de la statistique du Québec, the Quebec statistics office.
ADR
Average daily rate, the average price of an occupied hotel room per night.
RevPAR
Revenue per available room, the room revenue divided by all rooms available.

Methodology and sources

Figures come from Canada's official producers: Statistics Canada for border counts, travel surveys, the national tourism indicators, airports, accommodation and crime, each labelled by dataset; Parks Canada for park visits; Environment and Climate Change Canada for weather; provincial bodies in Quebec, British Columbia and Alberta; the tourism agencies of Toronto and Vancouver; the Vancouver and Quebec port authorities; and Destination Canada for forecasts. Each figure links to the document that carries it, with the date. From 2025 the border counts include extra airport records, and we say so wherever 2025 or 2026 is compared with earlier years. Annual totals we added up from monthly values are labelled as calculated. Tourism GDP and jobs use only Statistics Canada's June 2026 revised figures. Measures that differ, such as survey spending and national accounts spending, are never added or compared. Preliminary and modelled figures are labelled as such. The page is reviewed monthly and the date is shown at the top.