International arrivals to Canada—non-resident visitors and returning Canadians—nearly doubled compared with December 2021 but have not yet reached levels recorded before the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 611,000 non-resident visitors that arrived from abroad at Canadian airports equipped with electronic sensors in December were almost double those that arrived in the same month in 2021.
In December, US residents took 785,800 trips to Canada through land ports with electronic sensors, over 465,400 more than in December 2021.
During the same period, the number of Canadian residents that returned by air from visiting abroad via kiosk-equipped airports (1.3 million) nearly doubled that from December 2021.
Compared with December 2021, 645,000 more Canadian residents—for a total of 1.3 million—returned from trips to the United States through land ports with electronic sensors.
Holiday travel upended as winter storms surge
With COVID-19 border restrictions removed, the travel sector faced new challenges in December due to winter storms across the country. On December 22, for instance, Environment and Climate Change Canada issued several warnings and special weather statements for most of Canada.
Winter storms were felt coast-to-coast across Canada and the United States just as holiday travel was surging, causing many delays and cancelled flights. This left many air travellers stranded over the peak holiday travel period and may have dissuaded others from taking cross-border trips by motor vehicle.
Non-resident arrivals by air
Arrivals of non-resident visitors from overseas countries (322,700) and the United States (288,300) at Canadian airports equipped with primary inspection kiosks (PIKs) totalled 611,000 in December, almost double that from December 2021 (352,900).
The number of non-resident arrivals by air seemed to exceed that observed in December 2019, before the pandemic. However, the total for December 2022 included arrivals at Toronto Pearson International Airport Terminal 1, which make up a sizeable portion of total arrivals. The PIK system was implemented at Toronto Pearson International Airport Terminal 1 in June 2021.
US-resident arrivals by land
In December, US residents took 785,800 trips to visit Canada, crossing by automobile through land ports equipped with the automated Integrated Primary Inspection Line (IPIL) application. This number was more than double that from December 2021 and represented nearly three-quarters (74.7%) of such arrivals from the same month in 2019.
Canadians returning by air
In December, the number of Canadian residents that returned by air from abroad and landed at airports equipped with PIKs was 1.3 million, almost double the number of arrivals in December 2021 (742,200).
While the total number of arrivals may seem to exceed the pre-pandemic levels from 2019, note again that the December 2022 count included international arrivals at Toronto Pearson International Airport Terminal 1 (see Note to readers).
Excluding Toronto Pearson International Airport Terminal 1, in December Canadian airports recovered 88.3% of their December 2019 pre-pandemic volume of Canadians returning from abroad.
Canadians returning by land
In December, 1.3 million Canadian residents returned from visiting the United States, crossing by automobile via IPIL-equipped land ports. This was an increase of more than 645,000 trips from December 2021 (672,800).
In December, the number of returning Canadian-resident trips recovered less than two-thirds (65.4%) of that recorded for the same month in 2019 (2.0 million), before the pandemic, down from the almost three-quarters (72.3%) recovery reached in November 2022.
