Canada
Intro
Travellers from Canada made 33.2 million outbound visits in 2024, with a total international tourism expenditure of US$41.7 billion.
In 2023, the UK welcomed a record 1.0 million visits from Canada. During the travellers’ visits, their total expenditure was a record £969.6 million, with an average spend of £966 per visit.
Visitor characteristics
- Canadian visitors tend to be older than the average visitor to the UK: 31% of Canadian visitors were aged 55+ in 2023, compared with the all-market average of 21%.
- Almost half of Canadian visitors come from Ontario.
- Six-in-10 Canadian holiday visitors are making a repeat visit.
- The Canada visitor market comprises 43% visits to friends or relatives and 40% holiday visits.
Popular activities for this market
Dining in a restaurant.
Sightseeing of famous buildings and monuments.
Going shopping.
For further information on activities and experiences for this market, please click here.
Explore the inbound data in full
Use our visualisations to see data from this market in greater depth and clarity. Compare annual statistics, and filter by age group, gender, trip duration and more. Includes seasonality, trip purpose and regional spread of visitors to UK destinations. This data is based on the International Passenger Survey, conducted by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Please click on the button below and select the market you are interested in.
Perceptions of Britain in the Canadian market
- Canadians have very positive perceptions of the UK, ranking it third overall among 50 nations in the 2024 Anholt Nation Brands Index.
- Canadians ranked the UK second for historic buildings and fourth for vibrant city life/urban attractions and cultural heritage.
Global context
Top-level statistics relating to the population, GDP, tourism expenditure and popular destinations for this market. For greater detail on inbound tourism flows from this market to the UK, see our data visualisations.
| Measure | 2024 |
| International tourism expenditure (US$bn) | 41.7 |
| Global rank for international tourism expenditure | 7 |
| Number of outbound visits (m) | 33.2 |
| Most visited destination | USA |
| Most visited destination in Europe | France |
Caring for visitors
- Britain is a home-away-from-home for many Canadian visitors, as it shares a common language, culture, tradition and heritage as part of the Commonwealth.
- Canada is a culturally diverse country: over 20% of the total Canadian population is foreign-born.
- As many Canadians arrive in Britain on overnight flights, the possibility of early check-in at their accommodation is appreciated.
The leisure and travel trade
- Toronto is a key location for doing business with the travel trade.
- Print brochure production is limited as most tour operators now produce mostly digital brochures and materials.
- Independent, customisable packages were cited as the highest growth area among tour operators.
Access to Britain from Canada
The key routes and transport modes that connect this market with the UK.
| Measure | 2024 |
| Weekly aircraft departures | 127 |
| Weekly seat capacity | 37,062 |
| Airports with direct routes in Canada | 7 |
| Airports with direct routes in Britain | 5 |
- Most Canadian visitors travel to the UK by air (91%); 6% arrive through the Channel Tunnel (IPS 2023).
- In terms of seat capacity on direct flights from Canada, London airports had 89% of market share in 2024. 35% of seat capacity was on the Toronto - Pearson International (YYZ) to London Heathrow (LHR) route.
- Following the COVID-19 pandemic, scheduled seat capacity on non-stop flights from Canada to the UK has recovered to 93% of 2019 levels in 2024.
To see entry requirements for visitors to the UK from Canada click here.
To see rates for Air Passenger Duty charged on passengers flying to Canada from the UK click here.
Further resources
Canada Experience Seekers Pen Portrait.pdf
Canada Experience Seeker Pen Portrait
Where visitors from Canada to the UK reside in their own country.xlsx
Where visitors from Canada to the UK reside in their own country
North American LGBTQ travel to Britain.pdf
North American LGBTQ travel to Britain
How we source this information
We work with a number of data sources to provide a rich and insightful picture of our key inbound source markets. This includes, but is not limited to, data provided by Oxford Economics, the UNWTO, Apex, Anholt-Ipsos Nation Brands Index and from our own surveys and ad-hoc research. The largest share of the data comes from the International Passenger Survey (IPS) by the ONS.
Visit our About the International Passenger Survey page for more information on how the data is collected and analysed.
