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1Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problems2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsCanadian-resident crossings returning from the United States fell sharply in 2025 and remained near late-2025 levels in early 2026, but available data do not show that the decline caused a specific staffing, workload or financial effect at U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP). Statistics Canada describes the travel pullback as unusually deep and persistent; it does not establish a CBP consequence or prove that a single-cause boycott explains it.
What changed in Canadian travel to the United States?
Statistics Canada reports an 11-month run of year-over-year declines in Canadian-resident return border crossings from the United States. Excluding the COVID-19 pandemic period, the agency calls it “the deepest and most sustained on record for border crossings from the United States.” The finding concerns crossings by Canadian residents returning from the U.S.; it is not a measure of CBP workload or U.S. tourism spending.
In its 2026 review, Statistics Canada says crossings in early 2026 remained at levels similar to late 2025. That indicates the pullback persisted rather than quickly returning to earlier levels. Statistics Canada’s 2026 review places the shift in travel sentiment after the change in U.S. administration in early 2025 and the implementation of “America First” policies, but the timing alone does not establish that politics was the only cause.
How large was the decline?
The scale depends on the measure and period. Statistics Canada’s 2025 analysis says Canadian residents made 39 million trips to the United States in 2024, equal to 75% of their trips abroad. Nearly three-quarters of U.S.-bound travel was by car. That annual baseline is not directly interchangeable with monthly return-crossing counts.
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For May 2025, Statistics Canada reported that same-day returns were down 40.3% year over year, while overnight travel was down 34.3% year over year. Both figures compare May 2025 with May 2024; they distinguish trip duration, not a proven cause of the drop. Statistics Canada’s 2025 analysis provides the baseline and monthly breakdown.
Does the drop prove Canadians are boycotting U.S. travel?
No single-cause boycott is established by these figures. Statistics Canada discusses changed travel sentiment and preferences, while Associated Press reporting also points to a weaker Canadian dollar and rising airfare and hotel prices as headwinds. The available evidence supports a substantial decline alongside political and economic factors; it does not isolate the share attributable to any one of them.
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It also matters what is being counted. An annual number of trips, a monthly year-over-year change in same-day returns, overnight travel and border crossings are different measures. The 2024 total, May 2025 declines and early-2026 trend describe related but non-identical periods and statistics. The Associated Press reports that U.S. tourism groups are trying to attract Canadian visitors back, evidence of concern among tourism interests—not proof of a CBP operational impact.
What does it mean for U.S. Customs and Border Protection?
The sourced figures show fewer Canadian-resident return crossings; they do not quantify any resulting change in CBP staffing, agency revenue or workload. A decline in the number of travelers could affect the volume of people arriving at ports of entry, but the available sources do not show whether CBP adjusted operations, experienced a measurable resource effect or attributed one to reduced Canadian travel. It would therefore be inaccurate to call a specific CBP consequence an established “backfire.”
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Canada’s border agency is separate. A 2025 Canada Border Services Agency briefing discusses traveller volumes and releases handled by CBSA in Canada. That is not evidence of U.S. CBP staffing, workload or funding, and the agencies’ figures should not be conflated.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What can be concluded for travelers and tourism businesses?
For Canadians deciding whether to visit, the data show that U.S.-bound travel had not returned to earlier levels by early 2026. They do not predict an individual traveler’s border wait or establish that an entry process has changed. For U.S. tourism businesses, the decline is a meaningful loss of a historically large visitor market, and AP’s reporting indicates that tourism groups are making efforts to win Canadian visitors back. Neither point demonstrates an agency-level CBP effect.
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