The number of international arrivals to Canada—non-resident trips and returning Canadian-resident trips—more than doubled from March 2022 to March 2023, but has not yet reached arrivals recorded before the COVID-19 pandemic in 2019.
In March 2023, the 498,500 non-resident arrivals from abroad at Canadian airports equipped with electronic sensors almost doubled those that arrived in March 2022.
In March 2023, US-resident trips to Canada through land ports with electronic sensors totaled 693,800, which is 427,200 more trips taken than in March 2022.
In March 2023, the 2.0 million Canadian-resident trips returning from abroad via kiosk-equipped airports nearly doubled the total from March 2022.
Compared with March 2022, there were over 1 million more Canadian-resident return trips—for a total of 1.7 million—from the United States through land ports with electronic sensors in March 2023.
To further explore current and historical data in an interactive format, please visit the Frontier Counts: Interactive Dashboard.
This release provides a first glimpse of international arrivals to Canada in March 2023. Complete counts for the March reference month will be available with the release of “Travel between Canada and other countries,” on May 23, 2023.
Travel requirements and advisories
On January 5, 2023, the Government of Canada implemented the requirement of a negative COVID-19 test for travelers two years of age and older arriving from the People’s Republic of China, Hong Kong, or Macao. This requirement was removed on March 17, 2023.
Non-resident trips to Canada by air
Non-resident arrivals from overseas countries (247,900) and the United States (250,600) at Canadian airports equipped with primary inspection kiosks (PIKs) totaled 498,500 in March 2023, almost double the 262,400 trips recorded in March 2022.
The number of non-resident arrivals by air in March 2023 includes Toronto Pearson International Airport Terminal 1, which makes up a sizeable portion of total arrivals. The PIK system was implemented at Toronto Pearson International Airport Terminal 1 in June 2021.
