Calgary 'bucking the trend' as U.S. visits to area surge amid nationwide slump

Joel Dryden · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 26, 2025 8:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 4 hours ago

Canada whitethorn beryllium seeing less American visitors this spring, but Calgary is proving to beryllium the outlier.

Statistics Canada released information this week showing 1.3 cardinal U.S. residents made trips to Canada successful April, which is down 8.9 per cent from the aforesaid period successful 2024.

Looking astatine aerial question specifically, StatsCan released information earlier this month that showed a six-per-cent driblet successful U.S. residents arriving astatine large Canadian airports successful April 2025, compared to April the erstwhile year.

However, astatine the Calgary International Airport, the representation was wholly different, with U.S. arrivals up by 29 per cent.

Calgary's airdrome has been an outlier for respective months successful a row, with a six-per-cent summation successful U.S. visitors successful February and an eight-per-cent summation successful March.

Across each large Canadian airports, by contrast, aerial question by American residents was beauteous overmuch unchanged successful February and March, compared to the aforesaid months successful 2024.

"Calgary and Alberta person truthful overmuch to offer," said Alisha Reynolds, president with Tourism Calgary. "We're delighted to beryllium bucking the trend."

Reynolds said information has indicated that spending from the United States has trended affirmative since the opening of the twelvemonth successful Calgary, and it has maintained spot done to the extremity of April.

She noted that Mastercard Economics Institute ranked Calgary among the emerging apical destinations for summertime question among the US and Canada relative to the aforesaid clip past year, the lone Canadian metropolis to marque that list.

The tourism manufacture has been navigating a analyzable backdrop successful caller months, with less Canadians travelling to the United States since U.S. President Donald Trump's predetermination win. On the flip side, tourism associations person disquieted that Americans mightiness enactment home, fearing a less-than-receptive effect from Canadians.

Asked wherefore Calgary is doing truthful good comparative to different Canadian cities, Reynolds suggested coordinated advertizing and a engaged normal calendar could person been contributors.

"We instrumentality a 'Team Alberta' approach … betwixt Tourism Calgary and Travel Alberta," she said. "We've made a concerted effort done each this sound to people U.S. travelers to reenforce our metropolis and our state arsenic destinations of prime for some concern and leisure."

Airport cites large events, favourable speech rate

The Calgary Airport Authority said it had seen the summation successful visitation to Calgary from U.S. residents this April.

It attributed that summation to a fig of factors, including stronger aerial connectivity with U.S. routes, large lawsuit enactment and favourable currency speech for U.S. travellers. 

"Overall, the spot we're seeing has continued done May and June, and aligns with what we expected heading into highest play wherever we expect implicit 67,000 passengers through YYC daily from June to August," reads a connection from the airport.

Rob Filby, managing spouse of the Rose and Crown successful Canmore, has watched the uptick successful American travellers first-hand. For immoderate American tourists, the Canadian Rockies remain a beardown draw, helium said.

"It decidedly started, I'd accidental successful the wintertime — the American dollar was truthful strong. And we ever get a batch of American. We're a tourer town," Filby said. "Obviously, the Bow Valley is simply a bucket database spot wherever radical privation to travel and see."

Filby, who besides bartends and regularly chats with customers, said he's noticing a displacement successful however agelong American tourists are staying, too.

"Previously, they would beryllium shorter periods, possibly 3 oregon 4 days implicit their American holiday," helium said. "But with their dollar being strong, they're staying longer and spending more."

Jack Jiang, a spot and estates lawyer who lives successful the suburbs of Philadelphia, was visiting the portion this past week. On Wednesday, helium was connected a formation backmost location with his wife after visiting Banff, which helium said ever had attracted him with its bluish waters and large hikes.

"It was amazing. We volition ne'er look astatine lakes the aforesaid mode again. We loved however determination are galore types of hikes of antithetic accomplishment levels and rewarding views," Jiang told CBC News via text, utilizing the in-flight WiFi.

Jiang said helium was alert of the caller strain successful U.S.-Canada relations, but it didn't impact the mates much.

"We did work the caller strain successful the quality and were really gladsome to get distant from the state that initiated the hostility and bask immoderate off-the-grid weather," Jiang said. "Hopefully nary large rift, we privation the 2 nations stay affable and not hostile."

Though Canada saw an 8.9-per-cent alteration successful U.S. residents taking trips to Canada successful April, that inactive represented 76.7 per cent of each non-resident trips to Canada that month.

That aforesaid month, 408,200 overseas residents arrived successful Canada, according to StatsCan data, representing a 0.6-per-cent drop.