A new Statistics Canada report found that Canadian-resident return trips from the United States substantially declined in April, a trend that one professor says reflects the effectiveness of the Canadian movement to boycott American products and travel, in protest of the Trump administration.
“So what began as a notion back in late January and early February has actually become something more substantial, and it’s being born out in the numbers,” Aaron Ettinger, associate political science professor at Carleton University, said in a video interview with CTVNews.ca on Monday from Waterloo, Ont. “This is consequential. This is going to have ripple effects,” he added. “The question then becomes: is it going to have an effect downstream on American policy?”
According to preliminary StatCan data published Monday, the number of returning Canadian residents and non-residents to Canada by air and automobile fell for the third straight month to 4.5 million in April, down 15.2 per cent compared to the same time last year.
When it came to Canadian-resident return trips from the U.S. specifically by automobile, the number declined to 1.2 million in April, a drop of 35.2 per cent from the same period in 2024. It was also the fourth month in a row of year-over-year declines.
Yigebashal Mekonnen, an economist analyst with StatCan’s tourism program at the Centre for Special Business Projects, told CTVNews.ca Monday the initial findings are based on the Canada Border Services Agency’s (CBSA) electronic data collected from land ports and airports. The full findings, based on data from paper, electronic and other sources, will be made public on June 23. She said the just-released information didn’t include reasons behind the trends. Ettinger says the StatCan findings suggest that the Canadian movement to push back against the U.S. may be effective. He noted reports that some businesses in the U.S. were going through “hard times.”
Some Republican U.S. lawmakers have also introduced a bill to allow Canadian snowbirds who own or lease residences in the U.S. to extend their stay…Source: ctvnews.ca/
Friday, May 15, 2026
