While President Donald Trump has since backed away from calling Canada “the 51st state” and its head of state “governor,” Canadian travel into the U.S. remains at historic lows.
Many Canadians choose to avoid the U.S. due to such annexation “jokes” and tariffs, or fear of getting caught up in the current administration’s anti-immigrant crackdown that, in some cases, extends to tourists.
A monthly report from Statistics Canada shows that in August 2025, the number of Canadians returning home from trips across the border was down 14.9% from the previous year.
When the numbers are separated between those returning by plane versus land borders, car trips saw an even steeper drop of 33.9% from the previous August.
These airlines are looking to expand their Canadian networks
At the same time, the number of U.S. visitors by both plane and land has edged up, as many Americans looked to support Canada with their money over the spring and summer.
Leaning into the expectation that travel between the two country will improve, “big three” carrier American Airlines (AAL) earlier this week revealed a codeshare partnership with regional Canadian airline Porter Airlines.
Related: As Americans flock to Canada, a major travel trend is fully reversed
This partnership will allow American Airlines travelers to earn loyalty points on flights purchased through Porter Airlines and connect to the Toronto-based carrier’s larger network of regional Canadian destinations including Edmonton, Thunder Bay, Deer Lake, Moncton, and Fort McMurray, alongside the country’s largest cities.
“Canada is one of the most popular destinations for travelers and American is excited to partner with Porter Airlines to unlock more travel options for customers,” American’s Senior Vice President of Global Alliances Anmol Bhargava said in a statement.
In December, Delta Air Lines (DAL) will start running a flight to St. Vincent and the Grenadines with a stop in Atlanta from Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ).
The first leg of the flight is also expected to give one more option to those traveling to Canada from the Southern capital, to which Air Canada already offers service from Toronto.
Image source: Porter Airlines
Could new flights from Canada to Texas and Ohio signal a small turnaround?
On the Canadian side, flag carrier Air Canada suspended a number of flights to smaller U.S. cities amid low demand earlier this year but is now looking to add three different ones in May 2026: Toronto to San Antonio and Montreal to Cleveland and Columbus.
The Toronto flight will run three times a week, while the ones between Montreal and Ohio will run daily. All three are seasonal routes that will fly only between May and October 2026.
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The move marks a significant shift in strategy as travel numbers between the United States and Canada remain low and Air Canada Chief Commercial Officer Mark Galardo has previously spoken of the need to “be a bit proactive and move capacity into other sectors we see strength.”
“Air Canada is launching services to San Antonio and linking Columbus and Cleveland to Montreal to support travel between these destinations and points across our global network,” Galardo said on September 24.
“We are also boosting capacity on other markets to provide additional travel options for customers on both sides of the Atlantic.”
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