Canadian traffic to Maine has surged 40% since travel restrictions were lifted
File Photo / Jim Neuger
Cars are shown entering the United States in August 2019 at Lubec, as they come off the bridge from Campobello Island in New Brunswick, Canada.
Maine’s 611-mile border with Canada is open again to vaccinated tourists and others with a “nonessential” travel purpose, and new data shows they’re entering the state in huge numbers.
On Nov. 8, 2021, the U.S. lifted its ban on such travel, originally implemented in 2020 to stem the pandemic.
In December, the number of people coming to Maine by car soared to 55,135, a 40.3% increase from November’s total, according to the most recent report from the federal Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
Among the 11 land ports of entry in the state, Calais welcomed the most travelers in December, 19,856, up from 12,632 during the previous month.
Entries were up at each of the Maine land ports. In Fort Fairfield, border crossings nearly doubled, from 1,483 visitors in November to 2,877 in December. At Vanceboro, which typically sees the fewest crossings in Maine, the number went from 286 to 410.
The spike was even sharper compared to crossings a year earlier, when the delta variant of COVID-19 was first spreading. The December 2021 total was an increase of 154.4% over the 21,669 entries recorded in December 2020.
However, international visits to Maine are still far less than they were in pre-pandemic days. The December 2021 crossings, for example, equal only one-quarter of the 236,923 people who drove from Canada to Maine in December 2019. During the busiest month of 2019, August, over 426,000 people made the trip.
Rebound
The recent increase offsets a similar-size fall in visitation during the early weeks of the pandemic.
The number of people coming to Maine by car fell 42% from February to March in 2020. The March 2020 total of 114,667 was just half the number of visitors in March 2019.
Fewer travelers from Canada have meant fewer hotel stays, fewer restaurant meals and a general decimation of Maine’s tourism industry, which is only now recovering. The travel ban was especially troubling for communities along the border, which share mutual economies and more with Canadian neighbors.
Extended families often straddle the border, hold dual citizenships, and shuttle between home towns like Woodstock, New Brunswick, and Houlton, or Clair, New Brunswick, and Fort Kent. Many Canadian drivers fuel up in Maine, where gas is typically about 20% cheaper.
A total of 830,000 Canadian travelers spent over $290 million in Maine during 2017, according to the Canadian Trade Commissioner Service.
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I was so glad to be back (in December 2021) after nearly 2 years without visiting Maine. We typically go four times a year.
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