Canadians continue to cut trips to U.S. in April
Xinhua
13 May 2025, 02:45 GMT+10
OTTAWA, May 12 (Xinhua) -- Canadian-resident return trips from the United States continued to decline in April, Statistics Canada said Monday.
According to the national statistical agency, return trips by automobile from the United States totaled 1.2 million in April, a steep decline of 35.2 percent from the same month in 2024, marking the fourth consecutive month of year-over-year declines.
Meanwhile, return trips by air from the United States fell 19.9 percent in April 2025 compared with the same month in 2024.
In April 2025, the number of arrivals to Canada by U.S. residents by air decreased 5.5 percent from the same month in 2024, while arrivals by automobile decreased 10.7 percent, said the agency.
Canadian airlines are reducing flights between the United States and Canada as demand dampens for travel between the two countries.
The changes came as fewer Canadians travel south amid trade-related tensions, and as U.S. President Donald Trump continues using annexationist rhetoric toward Canada, which he has repeatedly said should be the 51st state of the United States.
The Canadian government is encouraging Canadian consumers to shop and travel within Canada.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Winnipeg Free Press
34 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
It's not the time to cave on booze boycotts
Opinion A good measure of the true strength of your intentions is how much you're willing to sacrifice to stand up for what you believe. That should be the case even more when what you're sacrificing is essentially a luxury. You should, after all, be able to hold out a good long time without compromising your principles when what you're giving up is not even a necessity. Well, two Canadian premiers have demonstrated that the strength of their convictions is as shallow as a shot glass. MIKAELA MACKENZIE / FREE PRESs fileS Shelves emptied of American alcohol at a Liquor Mart. Remember when many provinces halted their sales of U.S. alcohol products in response to trade action by the American government? You should — it was, after all, only a little over three months ago that Alberta Premier Danielle Smith was saying this about U.S. tariffs: 'This economic attack on our country, combined with Mr. Trump's continued talk of using economic force to facilitate the annexation of our country, has broken trust between our two countries in a profound way… It is a betrayal of a deep and abiding friendship.' A deep betrayal, all right. As of this week, both Alberta and Saskatchewan began purchasing U.S. alcohol products again. The halt in sales had been a clear and decisive multimillion-dollar message to American producers that Canadians weren't going to put up with the endless tariff follies of U.S. President Donald Trump. With plenty of other domestic and global options, we could no doubt put up with the absence of American wine, beer and bourbon. The boycott threatened US$1.1 billion in American wine sales alone, and U.S. spirits producers have said the boycotts were worse than tariffs. It was a strong message to the U.S. that trade is a two-way street. But a boycott — even of a luxury item that will still face a retaliatory tariff of 25 per cent by the Canadian government — is only as strong as its weakest link. And the governments of Alberta and Saskatchewan, always proud chest-thumpers of the innate toughness of good western folk, have proven to be that weakest link. Heaven forbid the Jack Daniels or Maker's Mark bourbon wouldn't be there to flow for the Calgary Stampede. Meanwhile, Alberta's move was swiftly welcomed by the United States' ambassador to Canada, Peter Hoekstra, who couldn't resist taking a social media victory lap, saying on X/Twitter: 'Very glad to see that Albertans can once again enjoy a cold U.S. beer or glass of wine. Thanks to Premier @ABDanielleSmith for your leadership in removing this barrier to fair and reciprocal trade.' Hoekstra's comments have to be read as a bitter little joke: the fact is that the capricious introduction of tariffs across a broad range of Canadian products by Trump is what built the current barriers 'to fair and reciprocal trade.' (If Hoekstra couldn't see the backhander he was delivering for the insult it truly was, then perhaps the carefully wrought world of diplomacy should not be his trade.) Wednesdays Columnist Jen Zoratti looks at what's next in arts, life and pop culture. Alberta seems quite willing to be the butt of that joke: last Friday, Alberta's Service Alberta and Red Tape Reduction Minister Dale Nally said the sales were being restarted to show a 'renewed commitment to open and fair trade' with the U.S. The United States has shown, of course, not one single iota of renewed commitment to anything like open and fair trade. Let's hope that customers in Alberta and Saskatchewan will continue to make the point that their governments don't have the strength to deliver, and continue to boycott American products until American producers can make their own case to their politicians about the damage done by trade wars. If not? Raise a glass to capitulation. And just wait for the next Trumpian punishment to be dealt out to America's former closest neighbour. Because it will come.
Winnipeg Free Press
35 minutes ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
The importance of looking inward
James Simon has spent his career studying and implementing continuous improvement but it wasn't until he was working on a book that he realized leaders need to look inward before implementing change in the workplace. Simon was writing Headwaters to Change: Navigating Growth, Cultivating Presence when he realized that just as the word 'improvement' starts with the letter I, true improvement starts with the self. 'This word has been telling all of us this from the very inception,' Simon said. 'It starts within ourselves as a leader, either formally or informally. If we are not willing to put the work in up front… we're not going to sustain the changes that we want. We won't be able to fully show up for those that need us.' MIKE DEAL / FREE PRESS James Simon delivers a keynote speech Tuesday at the RBC Convention Centre suggesting that people practise mindfulness — or being fully present — by paying attention to their breath and then focusing on the task at hand. The coach, speaker and program manager at Edmonton's University of Alberta Hospital shared that message Tuesday during a keynote speech at the Embracing Excellence Lean Conference in Winnipeg's RBC Convention Centre. Organized by Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters (CME), the four-day conference started Monday. Around 900 people are expected to attend the event, which aims to demonstrate how embracing excellence and engaging people in continuous improvement drives growth and benefits employees, customers and stakeholders alike. During his 40-minute address, Simon pointed to a study conducted by psychologists at Harvard University that found that, on average, people spend approximately 47 per cent of their waking hours thinking about something other than what they are actually doing. This wandering of the mind makes them unhappy. To combat this, Simon suggested that people practise mindfulness — or being fully present — by paying attention to their breath and then focusing on the task at hand. Staying steady through life's ups and downs, approaching conversations with kindness and compassion and expressing gratitude are other practices individuals and teams can use to achieve sustainable improvements and unlock inner mastery. Embracing a 'beginner's mind' — having an attitude of openness, eagerness and lack of preconceptions — is also fundamental to continuous improvement, Simon said. 'I think if we don't take the opportunity to start with (ourselves) and understand what it really, truly means to move forward with lean and continuous improvement, we can't truly establish the culture that we're looking for,' he told the Free Press after his speech. Started in 2012 and held every three years, the Lean conference is especially important today because of Canada's productivity crisis, said John Chaput, conference chair. Reports show Canada's productivity level is lagging behind countries like the U.S., the U.K. and France. 'A lot of our Canadian companies haven't been able to invest in their culture, in their people, in their technology and sustainability just because they don't know what's possible and they don't know how,' Chaput said on Monday. 'This (conference) helps to show them the how.' Throughout the conference, participants are attending presentations grouped under different 'value streams': technology, improvement, sustainability and culture. They also have the option of attending tours of more than 20 Manitoba businesses to gain insight into how others approach continuous improvement. Chaput hopes the conference helps attendees find new ways to do business. 'It's all about performance-enhancing thinking and strategy, which will help them compete nationally, internationally and globally so they can nail down and secure new supply chains,' he said. About 20 per cent of attendees are from outside Manitoba, according to Chaput. Just about every Canadian province is represented and there are about a dozen delegates from the U.S., he said. The majority of attendees are from the manufacturing sector, with 'just under 20 per cent' from the service and public sectors. During remarks he made to the audience prior to Simon's keynote address, MLA Jamie Moses, minister of business, mining, trade and job creation, noted the supply chain instability and global trade uncertainty that businesses are faced with today. 'That's why I think it's even more meaningful that we learn to work together; that we find ways to connect and support each other as industry so that we can all be stronger through turbulence,' he said. Monday Mornings The latest local business news and a lookahead to the coming week. Those words were echoed by Dennis Darby, CME's president and CEO, who called the conference 'a call to action' and encouraged attendees to talk with each other about what's working for them. 'We need to find those opportunities to continue to work together and get those productivity gains that we know are there,' he said. The manufacturing industry employs more than 1.7 million Canadians and contributes over $700 billion in annual sales, Darby said. The conference ends on Thursday. Aaron EppReporter Aaron Epp reports on business for the Free Press. After freelancing for the paper for a decade, he joined the staff full-time in 2024. He was previously the associate editor at Canadian Mennonite. Read more about Aaron. Our newsroom depends on a growing audience of readers to power our journalism. If you are not a paid reader, please consider becoming a subscriber. Our newsroom depends on its audience of readers to power our journalism. Thank you for your support.
Japan Forward
an hour ago
- Japan Forward
AI Tool 'KIBIT': A Game Changer in New Drug Development
このページを 日本語 で読む The COVID-19 pandemic reminded the world of the importance of drug discovery. However, modern drug discoveries require massive financial investment. Meanwhile, the use of artificial intelligence for AI drug discovery is gaining attention as a way to control soaring pharmaceutical prices. And a Japanese-made AI tool named 'KIBIT' is about to open up a new stage in this field. President Donald Trump issued executive orders in April and May mandating the reduction of domestic drug prices in the United States. Accompanying White House fact sheets refer to the high cost Americans pay for prescriptions, which is 2.78 times higher than the OECD average. Prescription costs are also 3.47 times higher than in Japan. Trump sees these high costs to consumers as a serious issue. In Japan, a national drug pricing system sets medication prices, enabling access to affordable treatments due to governmental oversight. In contrast, US pharmaceutical companies can set prices freely. This often results in higher charges than in other countries. Following his May 12 executive order, Trump stated that his orders would cut prices by 59% to as much as 90% to align with the levels of other countries. This could potentially result in significant revenue losses for the pharmaceutical industry. In the case of Japan, major pharmaceutical companies such as Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited and Astellas Pharma Inc earn over 30% of their revenue from the US. According to his comments, the President could impose additional tariffs on foreign-manufactured drugs if prices are not reduced. In the search for new drugs and treatments (Screenshot, ©FRONTEO Inc) One major reason for rising drug prices is the increasing cost of research and development. The average R&D spending by Japanese pharmaceutical companies rose from ¥30.2 billion JPY ($298.7 million USD) in 1993 to 163.3 billion ($1.13 billion) in 2019 — a 5.4-fold increase over 26 years. US companies saw an even sharper rise, from $841 million (¥121.1 billion) to $7.449 billion (¥1.0725 trillion). That marked an 8.8-fold increase. Moreover, investing in R&D doesn't guarantee success. The probability of developing a successful drug in Japan dropped from 1 in 13,000 two decades ago to 1 in 23,000 recently. Despite the increasing costs, results are scarce. Consequently, the R&D-to-revenue ratio rose from about 10% in 1993 to around 18% in 2019 in both countries. Introducing KIBIT. (Screenshot ©FRONTEO Inc) AI is being eyed as a solution to reduce R&D costs by dramatically cutting time and expenses. Drug development involves four stages: Basic research & target identification Compound optimization Preclinical trials and Clinical trials. Many AI vendors are involved in drug discovery. In particular, they focus on reducing costs in the third (preclinical) and fourth (clinical) stages. However, most companies have yet to tackle the critical first stage — target identification. Introducing KIBIT. (Screenshot, ©FRONTEO Inc) The first enterprise to address this initial stage is the Japanese company FRONTEO. Utilizing its proprietary natural language processing AI engine KIBIT, the company analyzes vast medical and pharmaceutical literature to generate innovative drug ideas that researchers may not have considered. Human thinking is inherently biased. The more experienced a researcher is, the more difficult it becomes to identify novel molecular targets. Stated another way, the bias of experience often blocks new ideas. KIBIT, however, is free from such biases. It identifies new molecular targets that might be effective against specific diseases. To do so, it analyzes vast amounts of academic literature. It can even derive specific hypotheses. Furthermore, KIBIT can identify and suggest highly disease-relevant target molecules that are not explicitly mentioned in the literature. This significantly enhances drug discovery potential. How KIBIT works. (Screenshot, ©FRONTEO Inc) Only a few countries have the capacity to develop new drugs. In 2024, among newly approved pharmaceuticals in Japan, the US, and Europe, the US led with 143 products. Japan followed with just 12, roughly equal to the United Kingdom's 10. According to the statistics "Nationalities of companies creating the top 100 drugs in the world by sales (2022),": United States – 52 United Kingdom – 10 Switzerland – 9 Germany – 8 Denmark – 8 Japan – 7 Most countries, other than the US, struggle to produce blockbuster drugs. In this context, hopes are high for FRONTEO's KIBIT. If it can consistently generate innovative new drugs efficiently, it may help deliver affordable medicines to those in need, without Mr Trump's intervention. FRONTEO's AI drug discovery service, utilizing KIBIT, is already being adopted by several major pharmaceutical companies. Those leveraging KIBIT to create new drugs could become game changers in the industry. This article is contributed by FRONTEO Inc, a supporting member of JAPAN Forward. (Read the report in Japanese.) Author: FRONTEO Inc. このページを 日本語 で読む
