International arrivals to Canada rise 9.5% in September
Preliminary air and automobile arrivals totalled 5.3 million, led by a 17.2% rise in U.S.-resident trips.
International arrivals to Canada by air and automobile totalled a preliminary 5.3 million in September, up 9.5% from the same month in 2025, Statistics Canada reported Tuesday.
U.S.-resident trips to Canada rose 17.2% to 1.8 million, including 1.3 million automobile trips and 537,400 air trips. The agency said the moving Labour Day weekend, which fell one week later in 2026 than in 2025, contributed to the increase.
Canadian residents made 2.9 million return trips from abroad, up 5.6% year over year. Return trips from the United States increased 6.8%, though they remained below September 2024 levels. Overseas-resident arrivals rose 7.3% to 611,733.
The figures are an early indicator rather than final counts. Statistics Canada says complete September data are scheduled for November 23 and cautions that expanded use of NEXUS Highway data can affect comparisons.
Source: Statistics Canada, Leading indicator of international arrivals to Canada, September 2026, released October 13, 2026.
Featured image: Illustrative stock photo of travellers in an airport, not people counted in the September data. Photo by CHUTTERSNAP on Unsplash; cropped and resized by West Island Blog.
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