How to Save for a Trip in Canada (2026)

Canadians are set to spend a record $47.6 billion on vacations in 2026, up 22 percent from a year ago (Allianz (opens in a new tab)). A trip is the rare savings goal you actually look forward to, and it’s one of the easiest to plan for, because you get to pick the number. For the average Canadian traveller, an overnight trip within Canada ran about $449, a trip to the U.S. about $1,312, and an overseas trip about $2,435 per person (Statistics Canada, Q2 2025 (opens in a new tab)). Here’s a simple, honest plan to save for a trip: set your number, pick a timeline, park the money where it earns a little, and automate it so the fund fills itself.

How much should you save for a trip in Canada?

It depends on where you’re going, so build your target from your real destination, not an average. As a starting point, in early 2025 the average Canadian spent about $449 on an overnight domestic trip, $1,312 on a trip to the United States, and $2,435 on an overseas trip, per person (Statistics Canada (opens in a new tab)). Canadians planning a bigger international trip for 2026, especially to Europe or other long-haul spots, budget closer to $6,354 (Allianz). Use those as anchors, then price your own trip.

Set your target

Your number is the sum of a few buckets. Add them up for the specific trip you have in mind, then round up a little for the things that always come up.

• Getting there. Flights, or gas and wear for a road trip. This is often the single biggest line for an overseas trip and the smallest for a weekend nearby.
• Where you stay. A hotel, a rental, an all-inclusive, or camping. Multiply the nightly rate by the number of nights.
• Food and daily spending. Meals, transit, a coffee habit. Estimate a realistic daily amount and multiply by the length of the trip.
• Activities and one splurge. The reason you’re going: the tour, the show, the dinner you’ll actually remember.
• A buffer. Add 10 to 15 percent for currency, tips, and surprises. With a softer Canadian dollar, a foreign-currency trip costs a bit more than the sticker price suggests.

Worked example: a week in a sun destination for one person, roughly $800 for the flight, $1,000 for a mid-range hotel, $700 for food and activities, plus a $300 buffer, lands around $2,800. Call it $3,000. We’ll run the math on that round number below.

Pick a timeline (the savings math)

This is the part that turns “someday” into a monthly habit. The table below is straight division of a $3,000 trip fund across a few timelines. It doesn’t include any interest you earn while saving (that’s a small bonus on top). It’s simply what you set aside each month to have the cash ready before you book.

Pick the row whose monthly number your budget can absorb comfortably. The earlier you start, the smaller each transfer: a full year out, that trip is $250 a month instead of $1,000. And the math scales cleanly with your target. A $1,500 domestic long weekend halves every figure (about $250 a month over six months), while a $6,000 trip to Europe for two doubles them. Want a different number? Our savings goal calculator works out the monthly amount for any target and timeline.

Where should you keep the money?

Keep your trip fund in a high-interest savings account (HISA) at your own bank, separate from your everyday chequing so you’re not tempted to dip in. A trip is usually a short-horizon goal, often under a year, so stability matters more than growth. Don’t leave it in a chequing account earning nothing, don’t lock it in something you can’t touch by your travel date, and don’t put it in the market when you’ll need the cash in a few months. A dip right before you book could shrink the fund.

Everyday HISA rates in Canada run roughly 2.75 to 2.85 percent as of July 2026, at online banks like EQ Bank. A few banks dangle promotional rates near 4.50 to 5.00 percent for the first few months on new deposits, but those promos expire and then drop sharply, so only chase them if you’ll move the money when the rate resets. A TFSA held as cash can also work if you have room and want the growth tax-free. For a fuller look at where to stash short-term savings, see our roundup of the best savings apps in Canada.

The account that holds your trip fund is your own, at a real Canadian bank or credit union.

Automate it so the fund fills itself

The Canadian household saving rate was just 3.5 percent in the first quarter of 2026, the lowest since early 2024 (Statistics Canada (opens in a new tab)). The fix isn’t willpower, it’s automation, and a trip is one of the easiest goals to automate because the finish line is a date you’re excited about. Saving for a trip is part of the broader habit of saving money in Canada, so make it run itself.

• Set an auto-transfer for payday. Move your monthly amount into the trip HISA the day you get paid, before you can spend it.
• Name the account for the trip. Call it “Japan 2027” or “March break” so every transfer feels like progress toward the beach, not a chore.
• Line it up with payday. Paid every two weeks? Send about $250 each time and you’re at $500 a month.
• Funnel windfalls. Send a chunk of your tax refund, a bonus, or birthday money straight into the fund to pull the trip closer.

One decision, then the transfer runs on its own. You get on with your life and the trip gets closer.

How Lodavo makes saving for a trip more fun

Saving for a trip is a countdown, and the weeks in between are where the excitement can fade into just another line in your budget. The fund builds in your own bank account, exactly as described above. Lodavo is Canada’s first prize-linked savings app, and it connects to the savings account you already use through Plaid (opens in a new tab), which covers more than 99 percent of Canadian deposit accounts.

You can track the trip fund week by week in the app, and pick up free tickets while it fills. The more you save toward the trip, the more chances you get in that week’s draw, where you could win up to $10,000, with a guaranteed prize of at least $100 going to a user every week. A win would just make the trip better. Every week’s numbers are published on the winning numbers page.

That means the same $500 a month that gets you to a $3,000 trip fund also earns free tickets every week along the way. The trip is the goal. The draws are what keep the countdown fun.

Terms and conditions apply. No purchase necessary (alternate method of entry available). Skill-testing question required. Open to legal residents of Canada who are the age of majority. Odds depend on the number of eligible entries received. Full rules and odds at our contest rules.