With Canadian travel to the United States still in a major ebb over Donald Trump’s stance toward and comments about the country, many liberal-minded Americans have recently reversed a decades-old travel trend by crossing the border in greater numbers than the other way around.
In the summer months, Statistics Canada reported 1.8 million car border crossings into Canada from Americans visiting, and only 1.7 million border crossings from Canadians returning home from trips to the United States.
Citing an increase in American tourist interest, American Airlines also recently secured a partnership with Toronto-based carrier Porter Airlines for more connections to smaller Canadian cities such as Edmonton, Thunder Bay and Moncton.
Manitoba attracts tourists looking to see polar bears, northern lights
While many international visitors’ first experience with Canada comes in the form of a large city like Toronto or Montreal, provincial tourism board Travel Manitoba recently published numbers showing that travel to the central Canadian province rose to 10.6 million visitors who spent a record $1.89 billion Canadian dollars ($1.34 billion USD).
“Tourism expenditures increased by 4% year over year, rising from $1.82 billion in 2023 to $1.89 billion,” reads the annual report. “This growth was driven primarily by a 10.2% increase in spending by Manitoba residents and a 5.1% increase from other Canadian visitors.”
Related: A major airline retains hope for a rebound in US-Canada travel
While international visitor numbers and spending were down in 2024, the number of U.S. residents coming to Manitoba saw a 6.6% increase in the first nine months of 2025. The provincial capital of Winnipeg predictably saw the largest number of visitors but many went northward to the town of Churchill on the western shore of Hudson Bay. The small subarctic town is often called “the polar bear capital of the world” for the period in October and November when over 1,000 polar bears pass through it on the way to hunt for seals.
Churchill’s location up north also makes it one of the best places in North America to see the northern lights for large portions of the year.
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“Absolutely world-class and Americans know it”
“That is a testimony to the quality of our Churchill product — whether they’re coming in for beluga whales, polar bears or northern lights — and for our hunting and fishing products, which are absolutely world-class, and Americans know it,” Ferguson said to national broadcaster CBC.
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The year has also brought with it significant fluctuation in international travel numbers from month to month amid both a long and devastating wildfire season over July and August. There have also been political tensions between Canada and the United States that, in some months, motivated Americans who do not support Trump’s politics toward the country to support Canada with a trip, and in others pushed some to stay away over a wider political and economic atmosphere of uncertainty.
“The impacts of the worst wildfire season in 30 years, coupled with growing political and economic uncertainty, are being felt across the tourism industry,” Tim Johnston, the interim board chair of the provincial tourism agency, said at an annual general meeting earlier this week.
Related: Iconic boat company closes down after 56 years
