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Economic News

World Cup Visitors Boost International Tourism in June

August 20, 2026
Kari Norman
Senior Economist

Highlights

  • The number of Canadian−resident return trips from the US increased 5.0% year over year in June, while US residents travelling to Canada rose 6.1%.
  • At the same time, the number of Canadian residents returning from trips overseas edged up 0.2% y/y, and overseas arrivals to Canada climbed 3.4%. Table 1 summarizes key travel indicators.

 

Comments

Tourism in June received a boost from World Cup matches hosted in Toronto and Vancouver. Total arrivals from the 15 countries that played on Canadian soccer pitches rose 28.6% year over year, adding 33,600 additional visitors that month as compared to June 2025. Statistics Canada data note particularly strong increases from Panama (+10,700), Australia (+7,700) and Germany (+5,100), likely reflecting travel by team personnel and supporters (graph 1).

The number of Canadians returning from trips to the US rose 5.0% y/y in June, marking the third consecutive monthly gain following 15 straight months of year-over-year declines. Despite recent growth, the 2.3M Canadians travelling south of the border in June 2026 remained nearly 25% below the level of June 2024. By comparison, visits to Canada from the US grew 6.1%, indicating that inbound US travel remained resilient (graph 2). Compared with the first half of 2025, the nearly 700k fewer Canadian trips to the US this year were only partly offset by an increase of more than 350k overseas trips, suggesting that Canadians may also be directing more travel spending toward domestic destinations.

The year-over-year increase in Canadian travel to the US was concentrated in day trips, although volumes remained well below pre-tension norms. Some of the day trips likely reflected routine cross-border commuting by residents of Canadian border communities.

Regional patterns in the first half of 2026 remain mixed. Ontario received the largest share of international visitors, though outbound travel by Ontarians still exceeded inbound travel flows (graph 3). Quebec also welcomed a substantial number of international visitors, but, as in Ontario, more Quebec residents travelled abroad than foreign visitors arrived. In British Columbia, flows were more balanced, with inbound visitors modestly exceeding outbound travel.

Of the 15.5M seasonally adjusted visitors to Canada in the first half of the year, roughly 12M came from the US, underscoring the importance of American travellers to Canada’s travel and tourism sector. Visitors from Europe were a distant second place, with about 1.6M in the first six months of the year.

Implications

With World Cup activity continuing into July, some of the tourism tailwind could have persisted into the start of the third quarter. An additional weekend in August and unusually late Labour Day in 2026 will effectively extend the summer travel season for many families, providing a further modest tailwind to summer tourism activity. More broadly, our recent research External link. suggests that strong domestic travel demand is expected to keep more tourism spending within Canada this summer. Longer trips and higher spending per visit should continue to support the tourism sector, with domestic demand remaining the key driver of growth despite higher fuel costs and ongoing Canada–US trade uncertainty.

NOTE TO READERS: The letters k, M and B are used in texts, graphs and tables to refer to thousands, millions and billions respectively. IMPORTANT: This document is based on public information and may under no circumstances be used or construed as a commitment by Desjardins Group. While the information provided has been determined on the basis of data obtained from sources that are deemed to be reliable, Desjardins Group in no way warrants that the information is accurate or complete. The document is provided solely for information purposes and does not constitute an offer or solicitation for purchase or sale. Desjardins Group takes no responsibility for the consequences of any decision whatsoever made on the basis of the data contained herein and does not hereby undertake to provide any advice, notably in the area of investment services. Data on prices and margins is provided for information purposes and may be modified at any time based on such factors as market conditions. The past performances and projections expressed herein are no guarantee of future performance. Unless otherwise indicated, the opinions and forecasts contained herein are those of the document’s authors and do not represent the opinions of any other person or the official position of Desjardins Group.