OTTAWA - Both same-day and overnight car travel to the United States fell sharply in December, likely due to winter storms and a dip in the value of the Canadian dollar.
December's declines halted three straight months of significant gains in cross-border automobile travel by Canadians.
Canadians took nearly 3.8 million trips to the United States, down 7.8 per cent from November.
Most - just over 2.1 million - were same-day car trips, which were also down 7.8 per cent.
The number of overnight car trips to the United States also fell - 12.3 per cent to 995,000 after a 17.6 per cent increase in November.
Statistics Canada says travel may have been dampened by heavy snowfalls in early and mid-December that resulted in hazardous driving conditions and cancelled flights across Canada.
