Canada recorded a 28.6% increase in international arrivals in June 2026, with 33,600 more visitors than the previous year, according to Statistics Canada. The surge was driven mainly by visitors from Panama (10,700), Australia (7,700) and Germany (5,100), who flocked to Toronto and Vancouver ahead of their World Cup matches.

World Cup Drives Visitor Numbers

The 2026 FIFA World Cup acted as a catalyst for tourism, with Toronto and Vancouver registering the highest inflows from all 15 participating nations, except Turkey. In June, 811,000 non‑U.S. overseas residents arrived in Canada, up 3.4% from June 2025, and 85.2% of those arrivals came by air. Air traffic peaked on the days preceding key matches: Australian residents on June 12, Panama residents on June 16, and German residents on June 19.

Regional Highlights

Visitors from the Oceania region saw the largest jump since 2010, excluding the COVID‑19 pandemic, coinciding with Australia and New Zealand playing three matches in Vancouver. The increase from Panama, Australia and Germany accounted for 67% of the total year‑over‑year rise. While arrivals from Asia fell that month, Europe, the Americas (excluding the United States) and Oceania more than offset the decline.

Impact on Prices and Domestic Travel

June’s consumer price index revealed a 19.4% rise in accommodation prices in Ontario and 20% in British Columbia, largely driven by price hikes in Toronto and Vancouver during the World Cup. Desjardins senior economist Kari Norman noted that the tourism tailwind could have persisted into the third quarter, given ongoing World Cup activity into July.

Canadian residents also increased outbound travel, with 3.2 million trips abroad in June, up 3.6% year‑over‑year. Trips to the United States rose 5%, marking the third consecutive month of growth after 15 months of decline. Meanwhile, 3 million trips to Canada by U.S. residents were recorded, up 6.1% from June 2025.

The data suggest Canadians may be shifting spending toward domestic destinations, as the 700,000 fewer trips to the U.S. were only partly offset by the 350,000 additional overseas trips. Among Canadian cross‑border trips, 7.6% were by car, with 66.2% of those being day trips, while air travel fell 1.2% year‑over‑year.

These statistics underscore the economic ripple effect of the World Cup, boosting international arrivals, raising accommodation costs in major cities, and reshaping travel patterns both domestically and across the U.S. border.