September saw the number of international arrivals to Canada increase from the same month last year, but remain well below the pre-pandemic levels of September 2019, according to a new report released Tuesday by Statistics Canada.
The federal agency said there were over 11 times as many non-resident travellers arriving from abroad in Canadian airports equipped with electronic kiosks during September 2021 compared with September 2020.
Meanwhile, the number of Canadian residents returning from abroad via the same airports was roughly six-and-a-half times greater than September 2020.
“US residents made 328,200 trips to Canada through land ports with electronic sensors in September 2021—over 260,000 more than in September 2020,” said StatsCan.
“Likewise, there were over 50,000 more Canadians who returned from the United States (202,400) through the same land ports this September than in September 2020.”
It said arrivals of non-residents—overseas countries (138,200) and the United States (105,300)—at Canadian airports equipped with Primary Inspection Kiosks (PIKs) numbered 243,500 in September, up from 21,500 in September 2020. Despite this increase, it is less than one-third (29.0 per cent) of the 838,700 such arrivals during the same month in 2019.
In September, US residents took 328,200 trips to Canada in US-licensed automobiles through 111 land ports equipped with the automated Integrated Primary Inspection Line (IPIL) application. While over five times higher than the 64,700 trips taken in September 2020, it was less than one-third (29.8 per cent) of the 1.1 million US arrivals by car during the same month in 2019, explained StatsCan.
