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Money has been too tight to mention this year all round, not just for Brit pop stars. The latest International Travel Account (ITA) report for the second quarter of 2009—from the Research department of the Canadian Tourism Commission (CTC)—confirms the pinch felt in pocketbooks from Nova Scotia to Nunavut to British Columbia. The ITA measures the difference between the amount Canadians spend abroad and what foreigners spend in this country.

Here, some key findings:

• American spending in Canada fell to $1.8 billion, a 10% reduction compared with the second quarter of 2008. However, Canadians travelling in the US cut their coats to suit their cloth even more: payments totalled $4.1 billion, down 12%.
• Overall, Canada’s travel deficit with the US fell by $339 million over the same period of 2008, a 13% decrease.
• It was the highest recorded overseas travel deficit for a second quarter: $812 million, a 2% rise.
• The tills rang to a total of $3.8 billion from all visitors to Canada during this period, a 6% year-on-year decline.
• Total Canadian spending abroad during the second quarter of 2009 fell by 8% to $6.9 billion. Hardly surprising, as the number of Canadian trips sank by 1.7 million (-13%).

Read the 2009 Q2 report in full here.