The number of international arrivals to Canada (non-resident visitors and returning Canadians) more than tripled compared with October 2021, approaching but not yet reaching levels recorded before the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 570,100 non-resident visitors that arrived from abroad in October at Canadian airports equipped with electronic sensors were more than double those that arrived in the same month in 2021.
In October, US residents took 838,500 trips to Canada through land ports with electronic sensors, over half a million more than in October 2021.
At the same time, the number of Canadian residents that returned by air from visiting abroad via kiosk-equipped airports (1.2 million) was two and a half times that from October 2021.
Compared with October 2021, over 1.3 million more Canadian residents—for a total of 1.6 million—returned from trips to the United States through land ports with electronic sensors.
As on October 1, all COVID-19 border restrictions, including vaccination, mandatory use of the ArriveCAN app, and any testing and quarantine requirements, were removed for all travelers entering Canada by land, air, or sea. The discontinuation of border restrictions may have contributed to the additional 242,500 Canadian residents that returned by air and automobile in October 2022, compared with September.
Non-resident arrivals by air
Arrivals of non-resident visitors from overseas countries (282,500) and the United States (287,600) at Canadian airports equipped with primary inspection kiosks (PIKs) totaled 570,100 in October, more than doubling those who arrived in October 2021 (263,400).
With another year-over-year increase, the number of non-resident arrivals by air continues to approach that observed in 2019, before the pandemic. However, the total for October 2022 includes arrivals at Toronto Pearson International Airport Terminal 1, which make up a sizeable portion of arrivals. The PIK system was implemented at Toronto Pearson International Airport Terminal 1 in June 2021.
United States-resident arrivals by land
In October, US residents took 838,500 trips to visit Canada, crossing by automobile through land ports equipped with the automated Integrated Primary Inspection Line (IPIL) application. This number was almost three times that observed in October 2021 and represents over three-quarters (78.6%) of the 1.1 million US-resident arrivals by automobile during the same month in 2019.
On a monthly basis, this recovery proportion was up from the two-thirds (66.6%) recorded in September.
Canadians returning by air
In October, the number of Canadian residents that returned by air from abroad and landed at airports equipped with PIKs was 1.2 million, up by more than 715,000 from October 2021 (479,900).
While the total arrivals may appear to exceed the pre-pandemic levels observed in October 2019.
Excluding Toronto Pearson International Airport Terminal 1, in October, Canadian airports recovered 91.8% of their 2019 pre-pandemic volume of Canadians returning from abroad.
Canadians returning by land
In October, 1.6 million Canadian residents returned from visiting the United States, crossing by automobile via IPIL-equipped land ports. Although this is a jump of more than 1.3 million trips from October 2021 (262,200), it is just over three-quarters (76.2%) of the 2.1 million trips recorded for the same month in 2019, before the pandemic.
Compared with September, 171,000 more Canadian residents returned from the United States in October, an unseasonable jump. In the two years before the pandemic, however, October experienced a 7% drop from September in the number of Canadians that drove back from the United States.
