As threats of tariffs and annexation swirl, Canadians are saying no to road trips to the U.S.
The number of travellers heading to the U.S. from Canada, by car, in February dropped by half a million compared to 2024, according to data from U.S. Customs and Border protection.
The number of travellers entering the U.S. by car through the northern border dropped from around 2.7 million in February to 2.2 million, a decrease of roughly 500,000.
The number of air travellers heading into the U.S. through the U.S.-Canadian border was largely unchanged.
The number of Canadian return trips from the U.S. by car decreased 23 per cent from roughly 1.5 million the same period last year, to 1.2 million today, according to Statistics Canada data.
Seems like the feeling’s mutual: Americans aren’t driving here, either. U.S.-resident return trips to Canada decreased 7.9 per cent from the same period in 2024.
Trade war hits home
U.S. President Donald Trump’s on-again, off-again tariff threats are giving Canadians whiplash.
Trump first imposed 25 per cent tariffs to imports from Canada and Mexico on Feb. 1, alleging that the countries had not done enough to stem the flow of migrants and drugs into the U.S.
Two days later, Trump agreed pause the tariffs for 30 days. The tariffs went into effect on March 4, but were suspended again on March 6, until April 2.
Meanwhile, Canadians are beginning to wonder whether Trump really was joking about making Canada the 51st state. Former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said he believes Trump is serious about the threat. Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly condemned Trump’s assertions, saying that Canada’s sovereignty was “not up (for) debate.”
The political rhetoric has begun to wear on Canadians, leading many to cancel their trips south of the border.
‘Betrayed’
In early February, Amy Gleiser cancelled her trip to Myrtle Beach, S.C., and she’s not sorry about it.
“It was disappointing, but at the same time, we’re really happy we made that decision,” Gleiser, a resident of Paris, Ont., said earlier this month. “The United States is not a place that we want to visit and we do sort of have this sense of being betrayed as friends.”
She called her travel agent and put together a trip to Mexico instead.
Gleiser is just one of many Canadians cancelling trips to the U.S., in light of Trump’s “disrespectful” and “disgraceful” rhetoric.
Some travellers have said they won’t go back to the U.S. until the whole tariff mess has been sorted out, said Francine Cochrane, co-owner of Playcation Travel, which specializes in theme park travel. Other travellers are holding firm, she said. They say that they’ve booked their trips, so they’re going. Others are doing the “wait-and-see.”
“It’s such an internal struggle for so many Canadians because they don’t want to go against their country, but they also want to live their lives,” said Cochrane.
Clients who had originally planned to go to theme parks are now switching to Mexico or the Dominican Republic instead. “Our bookings to the U.S. are down year over year and our bookings to all inclusive destinations are up by probably the same margin.”
With files from Mark Colley
