Canada recorded 4.7 million international arrivals in April, up 3.5 per cent from the same month in 2025, marking the first year-over-year increase since January 2025, reported Statistics Canada.
The preliminary figures, which include Canadian-resident return trips as well as arrivals by U.S. and overseas residents by air and automobile, showed gains driven largely by increases in Canadian return travel and U.S.-resident visits to Canada.
Canadian residents returning from abroad totalled 3.2 million trips in April, an increase of three per cent compared with the same month a year earlier.
Return trips from the United States reached 1.8 million, up 1.4 per cent year over year. The increase was fuelled by automobile travel, which rose 5.8 per cent from April 2025. It marked the first month since December 2024 that overall return trips from the United States increased on an annual basis.
At the same time, return trips from the United States by air fell 8.1 per cent from a year earlier.
Canadian residents returning from overseas countries by air totalled 1.3 million in April, up 5.3 per cent from the same month in 2025.
The highest daily volume of Canadian-resident return trips from abroad occurred on Easter Monday, April 6, when 149,000 arrivals were recorded. The lowest daily total was observed on Wednesday, April 22, at 85,600.
Travel to Canada by U.S. residents also increased during the month.
U.S.-resident trips to Canada rose 7.3 per cent in April to 1.2 million, marking the third consecutive month of year-over-year gains.
Of those trips, 870,400 were made by automobile, up 6.1 per cent from April 2025, while 320,500 arrivals were by air, an increase of 10.8 per cent.
The busiest days for U.S.-resident arrivals occurred during the Easter long weekend, with 131,300 arrivals recorded over Good Friday, April 3, and Saturday, April 4. The lowest daily total was recorded on Tuesday, April 14, with 23,500 arrivals.
In contrast, travel to Canada by overseas residents declined during the month.
Overseas-resident trips totalled 366,800 in April, down 3.1 per cent compared with the same month a year earlier.
Most overseas arrivals came by air, with 338,200 travellers arriving that way, down 1.5 per cent year over year. Another 28,600 overseas residents entered Canada by automobile, a decrease of 19 per cent from April 2025.
The highest daily number of overseas-resident arrivals was recorded on Thursday, April 2, with 15,500 travellers, while the lowest occurred on Tuesday, April 14, at 9,800 arrivals.
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