“It\u2019s such a big ask right now,\u201d Loewen, 45, said of the attempts to woo Canadians like him back before a new president occupies the White House<\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s just a wasted effort.\u201d<\/p>\n Relations between the U.S. and Canadian governments have deteriorated sharply since their trade negotiations collapsed last month. Trump imposed import taxes of up to 50 percent on a range of Canadian products. Canada\u2019s government responded in kind. Trump ordered the U.S. government to change the name of border-spanning Lake Ontario to \u201cLake America.\u201d Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney<\/a> dismissed insults from members of Trump’s Cabinet as childish and undignified. <\/p>\n The bilateral rift has not stopped state and local tourism officials and popular destinations like Graceland from trying to persuade Canadian visitors to return. <\/p>\n New York<\/a> state launched a \u201cNY Loves Canada\u201d promotion this summer, offering discounts at hotels, restaurants and attractions. Some downtown Las Vegas<\/a> hotels are treating the Canadian dollar as equivalent to the U.S. dollar to give Canadian visitors more value for their money. Las Vegas tourism officials went to Canada last month to meet with travel advisers, tour operators and airline representatives.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re here to make sure you know that we care about Canada,” Steve Hill, president of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority, said while in Vancouver.<\/p>\n The outreach is happening at the national level, too. Brand USA, the U.S. tourism industry\u2019s marketing organization, is bringing its Travel Week trade-event series to Canada for the first time in October, expanding and rebranding an earlier program known as Canada Connect.<\/p>\n Travel to the U.S. from Canada remains well below 2024 levels<\/p>\n Canada traditionally sent more overnight international visitors to the United States than any other country. Amid last year’s consumer-led backlash, both same-day trips and longer stays nosedived. Canadian residents made 25 percent fewer return border crossings and spent about $2.4 billion (CA$3.3 billion) less on travel to the U.S. in 2025 than they had the year before, according to Canada’s national statistical agency, Statistics Canada. <\/p>\n The retreat coincided with other headwinds, including a weaker Canadian dollar that made traveling to the U.S. more expensive and rising prices for airfares and hotels. Canadian air travel to the U.S. started declining in September 2023, Statistics Canada data shows. <\/p>\n But the abrupt pullback in stateside travel that accompanied Trump’s second presidency and extended into this year signaled \u201ca persistent shift away from the United States by Canadian residents in their travel preferences,\u201d agency analysts said in a July report. <\/p>\n Tentative signs of improvement emerged in May, June and July, when border crossings picked up slightly, the agency reported. The latter two months coincided with the 2026 World Cup, which the U.S., Canada and Mexico<\/a> cohosted. Canada\u2019s national soccer team competed during the tournament’s early weeks, giving some Canadians a reason to head south. Carney attended the final match in New Jersey<\/a> alongside Trump. <\/p>\n Trips by car accounted for most of the uptick in cross-border traffic, while air travel to the U.S. fell from year-earlier levels in every month through June, Statistics Canada said. The U.S. National Travel and Tourism Office estimates that during the first six months of 2026, Canadians made even fewer overnight visits, which typically generate more tourism spending, than they did during the same period last year. <\/p>\n Snowbirds may provide a barometer of Canadian sentiment<\/p>\n A day after the World Cup ended, Trump announced that tariffs on $20 billion worth of Canadian goods would take effect in 30 days. The White House said the tariffs were intended to address U.S. complaints over Canadian barriers to American-made automobiles, alcohol and dairy.<\/p>\n \u201cYou went from this really high, exciting moment for the U.S. in terms of international attention, to the next week, it\u2019s negative again,\u201d said Deborah Friedland, a hospitality consultant at financial services firm Eisner Advisory Group. \u201cIt\u2019s one step forward and two steps back.\u201d<\/p>\n With the summer now winding down, some of the U.S. destinations most dependent on Canadian visitors are heading into their most important season. Large numbers of Canadian snowbirds typically flock to warm-weather locations in Florida<\/a>, Arizona<\/a> and California<\/a> when temperatures drop at home, making the coming months a test of whether the grassroots boycott will extend into another winter. <\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d be surprised if we\u2019re talking a year from now and all of a sudden you see this huge uptick in Canadian travel over the winter months,” Friedland said. <\/p>\n Not all tourism officials are worried. Jennifer Adams, tourism director for the Destin-Fort Walton Beach area in Florida\u2019s Panhandle, said she never panicked when headlines about Canadians shunning travel to the U.S. first appeared last year. <\/p>\n \u201cI felt our message was strong,” she said, adding that \u201cthe thing for us is to let the Canadian family know that they are welcomed here and we are committed to giving them a great experience when they get here.\u201d<\/p>\n Florida recorded a seven percent decline in Canadian visitors in 2025 compared to the previous year, according to state marketing organization Visit Florida<\/a>. Visit California, citing data from global research and consulting company Tourism Economics, estimated that Canadian visitation to the Golden State fell 20 percent.<\/p>\n For some Canadians, a promise of a good vacation isn’t enough<\/p>\n Loewen, the Vancouver marketing executive, said his family loved visiting the United States. He, his wife and their two children often traveled to San Diego<\/a>, Portland<\/a> and Seattle<\/a>. This year, they chose Mexico instead. <\/p>\n The reluctance, Loewen said, has little to do with whether the U.S. can offer a good vacation. It\u2019s about whether Canadians want to spend their money there while tensions between their country and the U.S. remain so high. Loewen said his family hasn’t set foot in the U.S. since Trump\u2019s inauguration and doesn’t plan to until there’s a new president.<\/p>\n![\"Canada](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/US_Canada_Tariffs_35233.jpg\")
Canada traditionally sent more overnight international visitors to the United States than any other country (AP)<\/p>\n![\"People](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/APTOPIX_US_Canada_Tariffs_93429.jpg\")
People watch the sun set over Lake Ontario (AP)<\/p>\n![\"Fed](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Federal_Reserve_Jackson_Hole_44817.jpg\")
Fed Chair Kevin Warsh, center, talks to Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey, right, and Bank of Canada Governor Tiff Macklem (AP)<\/p>\n