If your holiday travel plans include flying out of Vancouver International Airport (YVR), chances are you’re not going to the U.S.
Statistics Canada’s latest report on passenger traffic through major airports shows trips across the southern border decreased in October for the ninth consecutive month this year.
Meanwhile, over 5 million people were recorded checking through Canada’s eight largest airports in October — an increase of 4.5 per cent year over year. YVR alone recorded over 900,000 people — an increase of nearly 6.6 per cent year over year.
Statistics Canada says travellers heading to the U.S. only accounted for 24.4 per cent of airport traffic in October — down from 28 per cent last year.
Instead, the numbers show Canadians are opting for domestic destinations, with travel to other cities in Canada up 8.5 per cent in the same period.
Americans, too, seem to like flying to Canada, with arrivals by air up 1.3 per cent year over year.
On the ground, Washington state’s Whatcom Council of Governments also reported a 37 per cent decline in B.C. licence plates crossing the border by land in October.
The downward trend began in February, soon after Donald Trump was inaugurated as U.S. president, and around the same time that he started threatening to annex Canada, describing the nation as the “51st state.”
Source: CityNews
