Despite a recovery in land border traffic between the U.S. and Canada, crossings in 2025 are still way down from 2024.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection publicly shared its monthly border crossing statistics this week, which showed that the start of the summer holiday season meant a month-to-month increase in land traffic at the northern border.
There were 3,332,043 travelers using the land border in May, an increase from the 2,931,575 crossings in April, or a 13.6 per cent rise.
The rebound month-to-month, however, has done little to reverse the sharp decline in travel so far this year, a continued consequence of the strained trade relationship between the two allies and neighbours.
Compared to May 2024, the number of travellers making the trip went down 25.5 per cent, from 4,474,239 last year.
Travellers are defined by the CBP as individuals entering the U.S. on foot, by private vehicle, or by truck.
The two vehicular crossings in Detroit also reflected a seasonal rebound. CBP figures counted 595,203 entering the U.S. by way of the Ambassador Bridge or Windsor-Detroit Tunnel in May, up from 549,027 in April.
Year-over-year, land crossings in Detroit decreased by 17.6 per cent from May 2024.
The decline in truck traffic slowed down in May at Detroit, with 91,782 commercial vehicles making the trip. That's down from 125,617 in May 2024.
At the Blue Water Bridge in Sarnia, there was also a recovery in land crossings for May. The CBP reported 240,822 travellers in May, up from 214,752 in April, yet still down from 296,791 travellers in May 2024.
Truck traffic to Port Huron was up slightly in May, with 89,836 conveyances crossing, down from 88,560 in April. Truck crossings were much better year-to-year, up by 14.2 per cent from May 2024.
The CBP defines conveyances as the vehicles themselves, regardless of the number of people inside them at the time of inspection.
Figures were current as of Wednesday, June 4.