Strong loonie, mortgage woes deterred U.S. tourists in July: StatsCan

Fewer Americans crossed into Canada in July, with overnight travel into the country reaching its lowest level since the 2003 severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) crisis, Statistics Canada said Thursday.

The federal agency said U.S. mortgage woes along with the strong Canadian dollar may have deterred U.S. travellers from crossing the border, halting four consecutive months of travel growth. In total, Americans made 1.1 million overnight trips to Canada in July, a decrease of about 81,000 trips from the previous month.

"Turmoil within the mortgage and credit sectors in the United States may have kept Americans from travelling to Canada in July," the federal agency said in a release.

"Another factor may have been the Canadian dollar, which has been gaining ground against its U.S. counterpart. The loonie increased for a sixth consecutive month, hitting a 30-year high of 95 US cents in July."

Rob Prince, the general manager of the Duty Free Shop in Emerson, Man., said he's seen a decrease in American shoppers as the Canadian dollar has gained strength.

"We are seeing fewer foreign visitors … coming up to Canada because the incentive isn't there and we're seeing more Canadians heading south," Prince said.

"It is quite dramatic. We're looking at probably a shift of maybe 30 per cent less American traffic this fall."

Travel from overseas countries also fell 1.4 per cent in July from the previous month to 376,000 trips. Mexico registered the overall largest decline of 12.1 per cent, while an uptick in travel from Hong Kong and the U.K. was recorded at 8.4 per cent and 0.5 per cent respectively.

Meanwhile, Canadians made 3.4 million trips to the U.S. in July, up 0.2 per cent from June. Travel to overseas countries also remained constant at 605,000 trips taken in July.