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There is no evidence in the available figures that Justin Trudeau’s Stephen Colbert interview made Canada more appealing to American travellers. Statistics Canada recorded fewer U.S.-resident trips to Canada in 2025 than in 2024, followed by a year-over-year increase in the first quarter of 2026. Those counts measure travel, not changes in perception—and cannot establish what caused people to travel.
What Trudeau said on Stephen Colbert
Trudeau appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on September 23, 2024. In the conversation, which also touched on the Canadian economy and political divisions, he described Canada to an American audience by praising its scenery and people. Global News reported that he said Americans should know Canada has more to offer than “maple syrup and mountains.” Global News’ report on the interview also quoted Trudeau saying, “Canada is about the people,” and describing a country that celebrates differences and allows people to keep their cultures and languages.
Those remarks show how Trudeau presented Canada; they are not evidence of how viewers reacted or whether the interview changed travel plans.
What the travel figures show
Statistics Canada’s figures give a mixed picture across periods. U.S.-resident trips to Canada declined over 2025 as a whole, while the first quarter of 2026 saw an increase compared with the same quarter a year earlier.
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| Period | Trips by U.S. residents to Canada | Comparison |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | 24,958,000 | Pre-pandemic reference year |
| 2024 | 23,463,000 | Full-year total |
| 2025 | 22,792,000 | Down 3.0% from 2024 and 8.8% below 2019 |
The annual figures come from Statistics Canada’s 2025 visitor travel release. Its separate first-quarter 2026 release reports 3.6 million trips by U.S. residents to Canada, up 3.4% from the first quarter of 2025. Of those trips, 42.8% were same-day visits. U.S. visitors’ spending in Canada rose 16.5% year over year to $3.0 billion in that quarter.
Why trip counts cannot answer the appeal question
A trip total records travel volume, not travellers’ opinions. The cited Statistics Canada figures do not report whether Americans viewed Canada more favourably after watching Colbert, nor do they identify why visitors made their trips. They therefore cannot show that the interview increased interest in visiting.
The timing also does not provide a controlled before-and-after comparison: the interview took place in September 2024, the annual 2025 total fell from 2024, and trips rose year over year in the first quarter of 2026. These statistics describe different periods, not the interview’s effect. The available sources do not establish a survey of viewers’ reactions or a causal study linking the appearance to travel decisions.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What can be concluded
Trudeau used a widely watched U.S. talk show to promote Canada’s landscape, people, and cultural identity. The subsequent travel data do not demonstrate that Americans found the country more appealing because of that appearance. They show a 2025 decline in U.S.-resident trips, followed by a first-quarter 2026 year-over-year rise; the reason for either movement is not established by these figures.
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