International Trips by Canadian Residents

Recent advancements in aircraft technology have made air travel cheaper and safer than in past decades. This development has enabled more Canadians to take to the skies for leisure travel, which has been aided by generally expanding levels of disposable income. On the business end, increasing globalization of markets and offshoring certain jobs has increased the need for international business travel. High corporate profit levels during the mid-2000s contributed to this trend by giving companies the funds necessary to seek business in new markets and internationalize their operations.

However, the recent depreciation of the Canadian dollar has constrained international travel activity, as this trend has made traveling abroad relatively expensive for Canadian residents. Lingering effects from the financial crisis in 2008 and 2009 and recent shocks to Canadian mining and refining operations placed a drag on the Canadian economy. While 2017 and 2018 experienced growth in international travel by Canadians, geopolitical tensions weighed on travel in 2019.

In 2020, international travel declined drastically as measures taken to slow the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic led to the curtailment of large swaths of the global economy. Moreover, with many countries enacting travel bans to contain the spread of the virus, air traffic plummeted to levels not experienced in more than five decades. Overall, international trips by Canadian residents declined 74.0% in 2020. Travel weakened further in 2021, declining 45.9%, as travel restrictions remained in effect for most of the year, whereas travel restrictions had largely not yet taken effect in the first quarter of 2020, even as rapid actions were taken to vaccinate the population in the year. But as more countries lift their restrictions, including having to submit a COVID test and/or submitting proof of getting vaccinated, travel by Canadian residents rebounded more sharply in the year, especially as more people have gotten vaccinated since the restrictions were imposed in 2020.

In turn, travel activity rebounded more dramatically in the summer of the year, which is a popular time to travel especially as larger countries such as the US lifted these restrictions at the same time of the year with other countries such as Germany and Australia following. With these factors, international travel by Canadian residents rebounded at a record rate of 304.0% in 2022 alone. International trips from Canadian residents are set to expand by 48.0%, with factors like the removal of pandemic restrictions within the latter half of 2022 helping boost up more travel for the following year from individuals and families waiting to travel again until these restrictions were abated. However, inflationary pressures have also pressured more consumers to scale back their spending, which has also tempered growth in the season for consumer appetite for more traveling activity. Recessionary fears in 2024 are set to pressure the number of international trips taken by Canadian residents, which is set to expand by 0.6% in the year compared with the exponential boost in residents making trips in the previous years however, factors like the continued need for trips from consumers in the period will help keep trips stable in the period, especially as factors like a potential soft landing in the economy in lieu of a hard recession helping boost up more spending in the year.