B.C.'s tourism industry is seeing a worrying trend: four straight months of fewer international visitors entering Canada through the province's entry points up to May.
This underscores the value of domestic tourism. The industry's hope is that those visitors could help pick up the slack, with fewer British Columbians heading on trips to the U.S.–perhaps in part to protest U.S President Donald Trump invoking tariffs and threats to the country's sovereignty.
Destination British Columbia in late July released data showing 477,343 international visitors entered Canada through B.C. entry points in May, and stayed at least one night. That is down 7.3 per cent from May 2024, and down 22.5 per cent from the same month in 2019. Same-day traffic by Americans to Canada through B.C. ports was also down, by 0.4 per cent year-over-year.
The sluggish May performance came on the heels of similarly quiet tourism months in February, March and April. Overnight international visits to Canada through B.C. entry points in those months fell 8.9 per cent, 8.4 per cent and 5.1 per cent sequentially year-over-year.
One indicator that the trend of fewer international visitors to B.C. may continue is that cruise traffic this summer is expected to be lower than it was last year.
Trump’s America-first rhetoric also whipped up nationalistic sentiment south of the border, perhaps encouraging Americans to spend vacation money at home.
American nationals entering Canada in May through B.C. entry points and staying overnight fell 9.6 per cent year-over-year, to 290,050, according to the data that Destination BC breaks down from data collector Statistics Canada.
Several tourism advocates told BIV this spring that as many as five U.S. corporate gatherings planned for Vancouver were recently cancelled due to a mix of geopolitical or economic reasons. One rationale for the cancellations is that U.S. residents who are not U.S. citizens do not want to attend Canadian events because they fear not being allowed back into their country.
French nationals lead the decline in international visits to Canada through B.C.
France was the country with the biggest decline year-over-year in May for nationals making overnight visits to Canada after entering through a B.C. entry point.
Only 2,357 French nationals did that in May, down 24.5 per cent from the same month in 2023.
It is not clear why that decline in French visits materialized. Air France maintained the same schedule in May 2025 as it did in May 2024: five times weekly between Paris's Charles de Gaulle Airport and Vancouver International Airport (YVR). That airline then, like last year, bumped up its flight frequency to daily during July and August, according to the Vancouver Airport Authority (VAA).
Another country with nationals who are visiting B.C. less frequently is India. There were 12,960 Indian citizens who entered Canada via B.C. entry points in May and stayed overnight. That is down 24.1 per cent from the same month in 2023.
"Air India made some operational changes, largely cancellations, of flights to YVR in the month of May, due to the conflict between India and Pakistan," the VAA told BIV in an email.
Canada-India political tensions may have also deterred some travel. Overnight travel by Indians to Canada through B.C. entry points was also down 25.9 per cent in April, 22.8 per cent in March and 24.7 per cent in February, year-over-year.
Not all news was bad, as Australians' visits are increasing. The 29,964 Aussies who visited Canada through B.C. entry points in May and stayed overnight was up 11.3 per cent compared with May 2023. Future increases may materialize given that a new Open Skies air agreement between Australia and Canada goes into effect Jan. 1 and allows airlines to fly an unlimited number of non-stop passenger and cargo flights between the two nations. Qantas plans to increase service starting in January.
The 17,044 Chinese nationals who visited Canada overnight after entering the country through B.C. in May was not as substantial as the Aussie contingent but it was up 9.9 per cent year-over-year.
Japan was another bright spot, with 6,204 citizens from that nation entering Canada through B.C. entry points and staying overnight in May. That is up 8.1 per cent year-over-year.
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