Travel into Canada was up in January. But it was still below pre-pandemic levels

By Staff The Canadian Press

Posted March 23, 2022 11:25 am EST

1 min read

This article is more than 2 years old and some information may not be up to date.

The federal government is making it a little easier for those planning to travel. Announcing a pre-entry COVID-19 test will no longer be required for fully vaccinated travelers as of next month. As Richard Zussman reports, it's a welcome change for the hard hit tourism industry. – Mar 17, 2022

Statistics Canada says the number of people travelling to Canada in January was up from a year earlier, but remained a fraction of where it was before the COVID-19 pandemic.

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The agency says the number of trips by U.S. residents to Canada in January was 218,600, up from 86,500 a year earlier, but well short of the 1.2 million in January 2020.

The number of residents of countries other than the U.S. arriving in Canada in January totalled 79,700, up from 34,500 in January 2021, however that total was nearly 365,600 in January 2020.

Statistics Canada says Canadian residents returned from 690,200 trips to the United States in January, up from 265,000 a year earlier, but down from the 3.1 million trips in January 2020.

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The number of Canadian residents returning from visiting overseas totalled 463,700 in January, up from 160,500 in January 2021, but down from 1.4 million in January 2020.

As COVID-19 cases surged at the end of last year, Ottawa advised Canadians on Dec. 15 to avoid non-essential travel outside of Canada. And, on Dec. 21, required all travellers entering Canada to provide a negative COVID-19 molecular test.