Leger’s Canadian Travel Intentions & Emerging Trends report, released in June 2026, tracks Canadians’ summer travel plans, destination preferences, and the factors shaping their decisions. The study is based on an online survey of 1,532 Canadian residents aged 18 and over, conducted May 29–31, 2026, with results weighted by age, gender, and region to Statistics Canada census data. Comparisons are available against Summer 2025, Spring 2026, and Summer 2024 waves.
Summer travel intent is stable nationally
Fifty-six percent of Canadians plan to take a leisure trip this summer, unchanged from Summer 2025 (55 percent) and up nine points from Summer 2024 (47 percent). Twenty percent have already booked and 21 percent are planning but not yet booked, both consistent with last year. Demand has held despite economic uncertainty and elevated fuel prices.
Ontario reports the lowest summer travel intent of any region
At 49 percent, Ontario residents are the least likely of any region to plan a summer leisure trip, significantly below the national average and well behind Alberta (70 percent), British Columbia (61 percent), Atlantic Canada (61 percent), Quebec (56 percent), and Manitoba/Saskatchewan (56 percent). Within Ontario, 17 percent have already booked, 20 percent are planning but not booked, and 12 percent describe themselves as somewhat likely to travel.
Cost pressures are more acute in Ontario than nationally
Affordability is the leading factor shaping summer travel plans across the country, and Ontario indexes above the national average on the top two barriers. Just over half of Ontarians cite cost and inflation (51 percent, versus 48 percent nationally) and 40 percent cite gas prices (versus 37 percent nationally). Personal finances (36 percent) and airfare costs (27 percent) follow. Ontario also reports the highest level of safety concerns of any region (13 percent) and above-average concern about the political climate and global tensions (14 percent).
Nationally, cost and inflation (48 percent), gas prices (37 percent), personal finances (36 percent), and airfare (25 percent) are the four leading factors, with cost concerns affecting travellers and non-travellers alike.
Fuel costs are shifting behaviour toward shorter, closer trips
Seven in ten Canadians (69 percent) say gas prices are having a great deal or somewhat of a negative effect on their summer leisure travel plans; in Ontario the figure is 71 percent. Among those affected, 38 percent are taking fewer trips, 32 percent are choosing destinations closer to home, 25 percent are reducing spending on accommodations, restaurants, or activities, and 23 percent are not changing plans but expect to spend more. Only 8 percent are cancelling a trip outright.
Domestic travel remains the dominant choice
Among Canadians planning a summer leisure trip, 77 percent intend to travel within Canada, unchanged from Summer 2025 and up from 69 percent in Summer 2024. Intent to travel to the United States has partially recovered to 14 percent, up from 10 percent last summer but still well below the 23 percent recorded in Summer 2024.
Ontario travellers match the national figure for domestic travel at 77 percent, split between in-province travel (43 percent) and travel elsewhere in Canada (44 percent). Ontario travellers report U.S. travel intent in line with the national average (14 percent), but are the most likely of any region to be considering destinations outside Canada, the U.S., and Mexico (19 percent, versus 15 percent nationally).
U.S. avoidance continues to redirect travel, with more international leakage from Ontario
Among Canadians less likely to travel to the U.S. in 2026, political climate and Canada–U.S. tensions (63 percent), tariffs and trade tensions (56 percent), and safety concerns (51 percent) remain the leading reasons. Compared with Spring 2026, tariffs, safety concerns, and travel restrictions have become somewhat less prominent deterrents.
Nationally, 77 percent of Canadians avoiding the U.S. say they are more likely to travel within Canada instead — consistent with Summer 2025 and suggesting the domestic shift is holding. Among Ontarians avoiding the U.S., the domestic capture rate is lower at 73 percent, and the share redirecting to destinations outside Canada and the U.S. is the highest of any region at 30 percent (versus 27 percent nationally). Ontario also records the second-lowest in-province capture among U.S.-avoiders at 55 percent.
Younger travellers show the strongest momentum
Sixty-five percent of Canadians aged 18–34 plan to travel this summer, and this group reports increased year-over-year travel interest across every destination type: within their home province (46 percent more likely), elsewhere in Canada (37 percent), the U.S. (19 percent), Mexico (14 percent), and other international destinations (22 percent). Leger notes that younger Canadians are open to a wide range of destination types and that domestic destinations are competing directly with international options for this audience.
For more insights and more data, read the full article from Leger and download the report here.
