In its National Travel Survey and Visitor Travel Survey for the first quarter 2026, Statistics Canada reports that during that period, Canadian residents took 78.7 million trips within Canada and abroad, up 1.5% from the same quarter in 2025.
It said that from January to March 2026, visitors from the United States and overseas countries took 4.5 million trips to Canada, an increase of 3.5% compared with the first quarter of 2025.
On the domestic tourism side, in the first quarter of 2026, Canadian residents took 69.1 million trips that included a domestic visit, up by 2.3% on a year-over-year basis. Among these visits, 48.8 million were same-day visits (+3.8%), while 20.4 million were overnight visits (-1.2%). Although the number of overnight visits declined, these visits were longer compared with the first quarter of 2025, as the average number of nights increased by 3.7% in the first quarter of 2026.
Statistics Canada also reported that from January to March 2026, Canadian residents spent $14.5 billion on domestic tourism, up 5.1% year over year. For same-day visits, Canadian residents spent an average of $101 per visit. For overnight visits, Canadian residents spent an average of $471 per visit, and the average visit length was 2.8 nights.
On the outbound tourism side of things, Statistic Canada reported that during the first quarter of 2026, Canadian residents took 10.0 million trips that included a visit abroad, down 3.3% from the same quarter in 2025.
Canadian residents took 5.5 million trips that included an outbound visit to the United States in the first quarter of 2026, a year-over-year decline of 10.6%. Among these visits, 37.5% were same-day visits. Expenditures during visits to the United States totalled $5.0 billion, down 13.6% from the first quarter of 2025. In the first quarter of 2026, Canadian residents spent an average of $206 per same-day visit in the United States. For overnight stays, Canadian residents spent an average of $1,344 per visit, and the average visit length was 7.9 nights.
From January to March, Canadian residents took 4.6 million trips that included an outbound visit to an overseas country (+6.2% year over year) and spent $10.1 billion overseas (+16.7%). On average, Canadian residents spent $2,210 per visit, and the average visit length was 13.3 nights.
Mexico (1.3 million visits) was the most visited overseas country by Canadian residents in the first quarter, followed by the Dominican Republic (441,000) and Costa Rica (193,000). For Costa Rica, this was the highest number of Canadian visitors recorded since at least 2018 (the year data collection started for the National Travel Survey), as more direct flights were offered from several Canadian airlines. Compared with the first quarter in 2025, a greater number of Canadian residents visited Japan (+79,000), France (+57,000) and Mexico (+51,000) in the first quarter of 2026.
Looking at inbound tourism in the first quarter of 2026, visitors from abroad took 4.5 million trips to Canada, up by 3.5% from the same quarter in 2025.
US residents took 3.6 million trips to Canada in the first quarter of 2026, an increase of 3.4% from the same quarter one year earlier. Among those trips, 42.8% were same-day trips. Over the same period, US residents increased their expenditures by 16.5% to $3.0 billion. US residents spent an average of $170 per same-day trip. For overnight trips, visitors from the United States spent an average of $1,323 per trip, with an average trip length of 5.4 nights.
From January to March, overseas residents took 990,000 trips to Canada, up 3.7% from the same quarter in 2025. Spending by overseas residents in Canada totalled $2.1 billion (+10.2%) in the first quarter of 2026. These visitors spent an average of $2,085 per trip, and the average trip length was 16.6 nights.
Among overseas countries, the United Kingdom (108,000 trips) had the most visitors to Canada in the first quarter, followed by Mexico (99,000) and France (94,000). The largest year-over-year increases in the number of visitors to Canada were recorded by Mexico (+14,000) and the United Kingdom (+10,000).
For more, check out the National Travel Survey and Visitor Travel Survey, fourth quarter 2025.
