TORONTO (WCAX) – Fewer Canadians have been traveling to the United States for months, and this holiday season is no exception in a trend that is hurting border states.
“From Washington state all the way to New England, New York state, Michigan, all the states that border Canada have been suffering from that lack of visitation,” said Frédéric Dimanche of Toronto Metropolitan University.
The travel boycott was initially in response to President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs on Canadian goods and his suggestions that Canada should become the 51st state. But some Canadians say their reluctance to travel to the U.S. extends beyond that, citing incidents such as Canadians being detained by U.S. immigration authorities.
“Increasingly more and more now, the news is not just a matter of boycott, disagreeing. It’s now in this category of places that don’t seem safe to travel in,” said Tracy Lamourie, a Toronto-based publicist.
Lamourie’s brother lives in Colorado, and she says she feels bad not visiting him over the holidays.
“There’s a whole lot of places that I would love to go that I haven’t been to yet. I don’t imagine that America is ever going to be something that I’m going to feel is an aspirational travel destination ever again,” Lamourie said.
Canadians traditionally make up the largest group of international tourists to the U.S. The U.S. Travel Association estimates the drop in Canadian travelers could cost the United States billions of dollars this year.
The latest data from Statistics Canada suggests more Americans are heading north. In October, U.S.-resident trips to Canada increased 3% from the same month in 2024. Hospitality experts attribute that to the lower Canadian dollar and, in some cases, a desire to support Canada amid tensions between the two countries.
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