Declining traffic at the Sault border crossing appears to be the new norm – with newly released data for May showing a fourth straight month of decline at the international border compared to last year.
Border traffic this May dropped by 29.8 per cent compared to May 2024, with 65,366 crossings over the course of the month – a decrease of close to 28,000 crossings year-over-year.
However, with warm spring weather now here, raw numbers jumped in May compared to the month before – reversing a three month trend of dwindling numbers at the border.
Crossings dropped from 59,625 in February, to 56,441 in March, to 50,937 in April – year-over-year drops of 13.5, 29.9, and 35.5 per cent, respectively – before skyrocketing back up to 65,366 crossings this May.
Despite that, border crossings are down by 22.1 per cent so far this year compared to the same period in 2024.
Traffic at the border began dropping earlier this year, after U.S. President Donald Trump launched an ongoing trade war and repeatedly directed ‘51st state’ rhetoric towards Canada.