In May 2023, the number of international arrivals to Canada—non-resident trips and returning Canadian-resident trips—continued to increase from May 2022, but, for most indicators, has not yet reached the number of arrivals recorded in May 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Non-resident arrivals from overseas countries (404,000) and the United States (370,000) at Canadian airports equipped with primary inspection kiosks (PIKs) totaled 774,000 in May, over one and a half times the 507,600 trips recorded in May 2022.
Since June 2021, the number of non-resident arrivals by air also includes Toronto Pearson International Airport Terminal 1, which makes up a sizeable portion of total arrivals (see Note to readers). When numbers from Toronto Pearson International Airport Terminal 1 are excluded from the totals, Canadian airports in May 2023 recovered over four-fifths (89.4%) of their 2019 pre-pandemic volume of non-resident arrivals, up from the 86.2% recovery rate observed in April 2023.
In May 2023, the number of Canadian-resident return trips from abroad through airports equipped with PIKs was 1.5 million, increasing 34.0% from the number of arrivals recorded in May 2022 (1.1 million).
Again, the figure for May 2023 includes arrivals at Toronto Pearson International Airport Terminal 1 (see Note to readers). When the arrivals at Toronto Pearson International Airport Terminal 1 are excluded, Canadian airports exceed their May 2019 pre-pandemic volume of returning Canadian residents by 11.1% in May 2023.
