OTTAWA — New survey findings, released today by The Conference Board of Canada, show how much the pandemic has disrupted Canadians’ travel plans this summer and into next year.

Not surprisingly, with the Canada-U.S. border closed, outbound as well as inbound travel to and from the U.S. have been impacted. The Conference Board of Canada says that while a typical weekend in late March sees about 40,000 Americans enter Canada by land, on March 29, 2020 that number fell to only 531.

“Our survey shows that travellers are paying attention to government’s guidelines and are staying home,” says Todd Crawford, Associate Director, Economic Forecasting, from The Conference Board of Canada. “When it comes to domestic travel, we expect travel intentions should return to somewhat normal in April 2021. Whereas, international travel should remain at below-normal levels until December 2021.”

Crawford adds that the spring survey typically reveals that 75-80% of Canadians are planning a leisure trip. This year it’s 45%.

Most travellers say they have delayed or cancelled a trip: 58% of people surveyed in March and 73% who responded in April either delayed or cancelled their trip this summer. More Canadian travellers plan to stay in Canada this year, with 66% of travellers saying they are planning domestic trips.

Two surveys were conducted after the federal government closed the borders to international travellers. The first survey closed on March 23 with 1,500 respondents; the second, April 16 with a total of 2,000 respondents.