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Number of American visitors entering eastern Ontario steady in June but Canadian return trips down nearly 25%

Number of American visitors entering eastern Ontario steady in June but Canadian return trips down nearly 25%

CTV News3 days ago
Return trips to eastern Ontario from the U.S. remained low as the summer months began with Canadians continuing a trend of fewer trips across the southern border.
New data from Statistics Canada show the number of Canadian-plated vehicles entering Canada from the U.S. at the three main border crossings in eastern Ontario dropped by nearly 25 per cent year-over-year in June.
Statistics Canada says 66,767 Canadian-plated vehicles crossed at the ports of entry in Cornwall, Lansdowne, and Prescott last month, down from 88,725 in June 2024—a 24.7 per cent decline.
This also marks a slight decline month-over-month in return trips. There were 67,468 Canadian-plated vehicles entering Canada at the three eastern Ontario border crossings in May 2025.
There were 4,040 fewer Canadian-plated vehicles crossing at Cornwall last month, 10,731 fewer vehicles crossing at Lansdowne, and 7,187 fewer trips back from the U.S. at Prescott.
The number of Canadians returning from the U.S. via the Ottawa International Airport dropped 8.4 per cent from 9,738 in June 2024 to 8,919 in June 2025.
Conversely, the number of Americans visiting eastern Ontario didn't change much year-over-year in June.
A total of 55,037 American-plated vehicles crossed the border at Cornwall, Lansdowne, and Prescott last month, a mere 486 fewer vehicles compared to June 2024. That's also up from 48,389 vehicles crossing at the three main ports of entry in May.
The Cornwall crossing was the busiest in June 2025, with 26,921 vehicles, followed by Lansdowne with 22,232 and Prescott with 5,884.
Air travel increased, with 9,032 Americans entering Canada via the Ottawa airport last month, up from 8,196 in June 2024.
Statistics Canada says there was a steep decline in the number of Canadian return trips by automobile nationwide, with 33 per cent fewer return trips at all Canada-U.S. land crossings, marking the sixth straight month of declines.
Many Canadians have been boycotting travel to the U.S. over U.S. President Donald Trump's threats of annexing Canada as the '51st state' and his regular economic threats, as well as over broader concerns about potentially being detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). As of late June, approximately 55 Canadians had been detained by ICE, according to the federal government, and at least one Canadian has died in ICE custody.
Canadian return trips across eastern Ontario border crossings by month
January: 67,972 (+0.3 per cent)
February: 54,937 (-18.6 per cent)
March: 70,391 (-23.2 per cent)
April: 70,823 (-24.7 per cent)
May: 67,468 (-26.5 per cent)
June: 66,767 (-24.7 per cent)
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