Statistics Canada says border data for 2025 has been compiled, and the numbers show a stark change in Canadian travel behaviour with the United States.
Compared to 2024, the number of Canadian automobiles that went to the U.S. and back last year fell by 30.9 per cent.
While the decline in land travel to the U.S. from Canada occurred amid historic trade tensions and a Buy Canadian movement, an analyst with Statistics Canada wouldn’t speculate on the reasons for the drop — as steep as it may be.
“I will say that the decline that we’re seeing in 2025 is notable because of its length and the depth of the decline,” Laura Presley of Statistics Canada.
“It hasn’t been too often in our history where we’ve seen drops of that level, for as long of a period.”
According to Presley, the Canada Border Services Agency processed 16.9 million Canadian vehicles at the U.S. border last year.
In 2024, that number was 24.96 million.
It’s a decrease of roughly 7.6 million automobiles.
“We also saw a decrease of American residents entering Canada, and that’s a bit less extreme,” Presley added. “American residents entering Canada decreased by 6.3 per cent from 2024.”
Presley isn’t certain how the 30.9 per cent decline compares historically with previous fluctuations in cross-border traffic numbers — such as the period after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the U.S., and during the 2008 financial crisis.
But she says cross-border traffic numbers had been “pretty consistent” before the swing in 2025.
Presley also notes that while land crossings between Windsor, Ont., and Detroit have seen decreases in Canadian vehicle traffic in 2025 — it hasn’t been as dramatic as the national data.
In 2025, those crossings saw roughly 3.41 million Canadian vehicles enter Canada.
In 2024, that figure was 3.8 million.
The difference of approximately 410,000 vehicles represents a decrease of about 11 per cent.
Tal Czudner, CEO of one of those land crossings — the Windsor-Detroit Tunnel — says the tunnel’s own numbers show even less change.
“I consider our story a success story. We’re only down around 4.5 per cent, on a year to year basis, if we’re comparing 2024 to 2025 — which is less than anybody else,” said Czudner, who runs the Canadian side of the tunnel.
Czudner feels there’s a variety of reasons why the national trend hasn’t been reflected locally.
A major one is cross-border employment.
“We’ve got somewhere around 11,000 people in health care, IT, engineering and automotive who live in Windsor-Essex and travel to Detroit every single day,” Czudner said. “Henry Ford Hospital is one of the largest employers in Essex County.”
Another factor is the convenience of proximity, and the affordability of visiting the U.S. from Windsor.
“We’ve kept our value pretty affordable,” Czudner said about tunnel tolls.
Finally, as much as there has been political campaigning on keeping Canadian dollars in Canada, Czudner says Detroit sports team fandom is a powerful draw for Windsor-Essex folks.
“Sometimes sports has a stronger foothold than politics in a household.”
