Canada, Sold From London

Two North American countries are reporting overseas arrivals this summer, and the numbers are moving in opposite directions. Canada’s are rising, with Britain at the front of the queue. America’s are falling. For UK advisors whose long-haul book still defaults to New York, Florida and the national parks, that gap is the pitch: Canada now offers the cheaper entry permit, a steady exchange rate and, from May 2027, a daytime flight from Toronto to Heathrow.

The flows

Statistics Canada says 1.0 million overseas residents arrived in Canada in July 2026, up 3.7% on July 2025. Arrivals from Europe rose 8.3% (40,700 more people) and drove the increase. The United Kingdom, France and Germany were the top three source countries and together made up 30.1% of overseas arrivals. In June the pattern held: 811,000 overseas arrivals, up 3.4%, with the UK again in the top three and Europe up 7.4%. Across 2025, overseas arrivals reached 6.8 million, up 7.5%.

South of the border, the US National Travel and Tourism Office (NTTO) counted 3.1 million overseas visitor arrivals in July 2026, down 7% year on year. Air passenger traffic between the US and the UK, which counts travel in both directions, fell 6.5% to 2 million in July, according to NTTO data reported by Hotel News Resource. In May the US figures were down 6.5% for overseas arrivals and 2.3% for US–UK passengers.

Destination Canada‘s 2025 UK market summary, prepared for Rendez-vous Canada, forecast 875,400 UK visitors to Canada in 2026, spending C$1.9 billion. The same document says a third (33%) of UK travellers use a travel agent for their Canada trip. Destination Canada’s two priority UK segments, which it calls Refined Globetrotters and Outdoor Explorers, account for 35% and 22% of UK spend in Canada. A large share of the market already books through the trade.

The money and the paperwork

Sterling has held its ground against the Canadian dollar. The Bank of Canada’s daily average rate was C$1.8853 to the pound on 2 October 2026, against C$1.8795 on 3 October 2025. Over the same year the Canadian dollar weakened against the US dollar, from C$1.3953 to C$1.4246. Read the two Bank of Canada series together and the pound buys slightly fewer US dollars than it did a year ago and slightly more Canadian ones. The change is small, but it runs in Canada’s favour.

Entry costs point the same way. British citizens flying to Canada need an Electronic Travel Authorization (eTA), which costs C$7 and is valid for up to five years or until the passport expires, whichever comes first, according to the Government of Canada. The US raised its ESTA fee from $21 to $40 on 30 September 2025. For a family of four the difference is about £105 at early-October exchange rates. It is not a deal-breaker, but it shows which country is making entry cheaper.

The seats

The capacity news for summer 2027 is about timing and cabin as much as volume. Air Canada announced on 3 September 2026 that its Daytripper between Toronto Pearson and Heathrow returns from 1 May 2027, daily and year-round. AC862 leaves Toronto at 08:30 and lands at Heathrow at 21:00. AC863 leaves Heathrow at 11:05 and lands in Toronto at 14:45. Air Canada says it will be its fifth daily Toronto–Heathrow flight.

The Daytripper will be flown by the Airbus A321XLR. Airbus says Air Canada’s XLRs seat 182, with 14 full-flat seats in the premium cabin and 168 in economy. That is a small premium cabin by transatlantic standards. The westbound timing is the point: a client leaves London late morning, lands in Toronto mid-afternoon and can be in a hotel or on a connection the same day, without a red-eye. Eastbound, the day flight saves clients from arriving in London at dawn after a night of broken sleep.

Elsewhere on Air Canada’s UK network, AeroRoutes reports that Toronto–Manchester, also on the A321XLR, returns to daily service from 1 June 2027, and that from 28 March 2027 the Halifax–Heathrow flight moves to an evening departure from Halifax, landing at Heathrow at 07:25.

Why it is under-pitched

Canada is rarely the first long-haul idea for a UK client, and that is why it works now. The demand data show UK travellers already going. The currency is steady, entry is cheap, and there are new flights on the main route. What the market lacks is advisors pitching Canada as more than a cheaper version of the US: Québec’s French-speaking cities, the Rockies by rail and lodge, the Maritimes for seafood and coastline, and the North for clients who have already done Iceland and Norway.

For advisors

• Who to pitch: repeat long-haul clients with a US trip pencilled in for 2027, especially couples and multigenerational groups who will notice entry costs and want a soft-adventure trip in a second language.
• When to book: the Daytripper starts 1 May 2027 with only 14 lie-flat seats a day each way. Hold premium seats for May to September 2027 departures this autumn, while seat and lodge choice is widest.
• What to sell: a London–Toronto day flight, then Québec City and Charlevoix, or a Toronto connection to the Rockies. Toronto–Manchester goes daily from June 2027 for clients in the north of England.
• What to watch: Statistics Canada’s monthly arrivals, the Bank of Canada sterling rate, and whether other carriers add London–Canada capacity for summer 2027.

Sources

• Statistics Canada, The Daily, July 2026 travel
• Statistics Canada, The Daily, June 2026 travel
• Statistics Canada, The Daily, December 2025 travel and 2025 totals
• US National Travel and Tourism Office, May 2026
• Hotel News Resource, NTTO July 2026 data
• Destination Canada, UK market highlights 2025
• Bank of Canada daily exchange rates, 2026
• Bank of Canada daily exchange rates, 2025
• Government of Canada, eTA
• Fragomen, ESTA fee
• Air Canada, release, 3 Sept 2026
• AeroRoutes, Air Canada NS27 changes
• Airbus, release, April 2026