Ontario Premier Doug Ford said he will be abstaining from his regular winter trip to Florida, and noted that many other Canadians are engaged in the “snowbird” boycott that is hurting the state’s economy as well as the popularity of President Donald Trump.
“They’re hurting down there right now. They’re hurting on all fronts—their economy especially,” Ford said during a press conference on Monday. “President Trump has the lowest approval rating of any president in their first year in, God knows, probably a hundred years. So this is taking effect.”
Why It Matters
The boycott of U.S. products and travel, sparked by Trump’s tariffs as well as his repeated reference to the nation as a “51st state,” has already had a notable effect on tourist figures and led to significant impacts for many U.S. businesses, including alcohol companies whose products remain off the shelves in several Canadian provinces.
What To Know
Ford, a conservative politician who has taken a hard-line stance against many of Trump’s economic policies and clashed with the U.S. president as a result, made the comments during a conference where he unveiled a multibillion-dollar plan to turn Niagara Falls—which sits on the border of Ontario and New York—into a “world-class” tourist destination.
Responding to a reporter’s question about the “organic boycott” of U.S.-bound tourism from Canada, Ford said this winter would be his first time not visiting the Sunshine State, but encouraged other Canadians to decide for themselves.
“That’s my personal choice. Maybe some families have gone to Florida their whole lives—go to Florida, that’s great,” he said. “But I encourage people to stay here and support local tourism. You can’t let one tyrant change your life.”
Florida typically sees a seasonal surge in “snowbird” tourism—North American residents fleeing cold winters by journeying to the U.S. Sun Belt or other warmer locales—but figures are dropping as tensions between the two countries have risen in 2025.
According to the most recent data from Florida’s state tourism board, visitor numbers from Canada plummeted 20 percent year-over-year in the three months which ended June 30, following a 17 percent decline in the first quarter.
And a recent survey from Snowbird Advisor, which polled 4,000 of its members—typically retirees or seasonal travelers—found that 70 percent planned to spend their winter in the U.S., compared to 82 percent of respondents last year. Many travelers, it noted, were now opting instead for international destinations like Mexico, Costa Rica or the warmer European countries.
Beyond the loss of revenue for tourism-focused businesses in places like Florida, the boycott and broader rise in anti-U. S. feeling among Canadians also appears to be taking a toll on the state’s housing market.
An analysis by Realtor.com found Florida metros accounted for six out of the 10 whose home values were falling the fastest in the U.S., due to a confluence of factors impacting buyer demand in the state. Niall Phelan, a real estate agent operating in the West Coast of Florida, told Newsweek that much of this declining demand was due to Canadians putting their homes up for sale due to the “current environment between Canada and the U.S.” Phelan said Canadians account for between 15 to 20 percent of his buyers, and that their exit was proving “a significant loss in the purchasing market.”
Aside from Florida, a new report from the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee (JEC)-Minority revealed that declining Canadian tourism is impacting American businesses across every state along the U.S.-Canada border.
“From January to October 2025, the number of passenger vehicles crossing the U.S.-Canada border declined by nearly 20 percent compared to the same time period in 2024, with some states seeing declines as large as 27 percent,” the report read, citing figures from U.S. Customs & Border Protection. “Businesses throughout the region are also reporting fewer tourists, more vacancies, and lower sales.”
“It’s not just the tariffs. It’s not something that will be solved as soon as we conclude trade negotiations,” said one B&B owner quoted in the report. “This is long-lasting damage to a relationship and emotional damage takes time to heal.”
What People Are Saying
Ontario Premier Doug Ford, during Monday’s press conference, said: “I always say we love our American friends, and Americans love Canadians. There’s just one guy I don’t see eye to eye with—and that’s President Trump. We’ll keep fighting, and I’ll never apologize to that guy. Ever.”
Alan Bradshaw, a professor of marketing at Royal Holloway, University of London, told Newsweek: “As we move into the second year of Trump’s presidency, we can expect to see a continued decimation of tourist visits to USA. The latest plan to demand social media and email history access in order for many nationalities to obtain a tourist visa, for example, is highly off-putting for many potential visitors. Even if only a minority of Canadians decline to visit their Florida homes, they will nonetheless be part of a much wider phenomenon of people deciding not to visit USA this year.”
Kyle Daley, owner of a grocery story in New Hampshire, quoted in the JEC report, said: “When our neighbors stay away, our margins disappear and in groceries those margins are vanishingly small to begin with. The friction at the border is no longer just a headline; it is an empty parking lot and a threat to our livelihood.”
Sylvain Charlebois, senior director of the Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University in Canada, told Newsweek: “We’re starting to see more behavioral signals than hard macro data just yet. Travel is the clearest early indicator. Anecdotally and through airline and travel-agent chatter, Canadians are delaying or rerouting U.S. trips—Florida in particular—toward Mexico, the Caribbean, or staying domestic. We’re also seeing a ‘soft boycott’ in retail: fewer impulse purchases of U.S. brands, more scrutiny of country-of-origin, and a rise in buy-local sentiment.”
“These boycotts tend to be episodic rather than permanent,” he added. “If political rhetoric remains heated, the effect could easily carry through the winter travel season. If the tone cools or economic pressures at home intensify, Canadians tend to revert to price and convenience fairly quickly.”
What Happens Next
The boycott of U.S. goods and travel is expected to continue, as the two nations attempt to restart trade talks that Trump canceled in October in anger over an advert produced by the government of Ontario.