Despite the pull of the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday and the lure of Black Friday sales, the reluctance of Canadians to cross the border into the U.S. — a phenomenon that arose in the wake of higher U.S. tariffs — persisted in November, according to new data from Statistics Canada.
On Wednesday, the national statistical agency reported that while there was a spike in cross-border traffic around the U.S. holiday, the drop in Canadians taking trips to the U.S. was still evident, with the number of cars returning to Canada down by 28.6% in the month. Trips by U.S. residents into Canada were also down by 11.5%, compared with November 2024.
The drop in Canadians driving to the U.S. was “the 11th consecutive month of year-over-year declines [in cross-border car traffic],” the agency said.
Notwithstanding the ongoing drop in cross-border travel, there was an increase in trips around the U.S. holiday, the national statistical agency noted — with daily arrivals from the U.S. averaging 50,200 between the Wednesday before U.S. Thanksgiving and Black Friday.
“This average was 97.6% higher than those observed for the remaining Wednesday to Friday periods in November,” Statistics Canada said.
The highest number of Canadians returning home by car came on Sunday, Nov. 30, following the holiday weekend, when traffic was 19.8% higher than the average for the other Sundays in November.
Alongside the decline in cross-border traffic, the agency also reported that the number of Canadians returning from the U.S. by air was down by 19.3% in November, and arrivals to Canada by U.S. residents was 12.6% lower from the same month in 2024.
The decline in U.S. visitors was partly offset by a 6.6% increase in foreign visitors from other countries, and the number of Canadians flying in from countries other than the U.S. was also up, rising by 11.7% compared with the same month a year ago.