Ongoing Canadian Boycott of US Travel Due to Political Tensions

Fri Nov 14 2025 15:02:05 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

A significant decline in Canadian travelers to the US highlights the impact of political decisions, as Canadians express their discontent with US policies under the Trump administration.

Canadian travel to the United States continues to dwindle, with a 24% drop in air travel and over 30% in car travel over the past year. Many Canadians, like Kristy Gammon from Nova Scotia, are choosing to boycott visits to the US in protest against the Trump administration's policies and tariffs. This trend reflects a broader movement among Canadians to avoid US travel, which has seen a 10-month continuous decline, while simultaneously bolstering domestic tourism in Canada.

Kristy Gammon used to travel to the US from Canada at least once every other year, taking ski trips at Lake Placid in New York and traveling to Baltimore, Maryland, for her husband's favorite Orioles baseball games.

But those trips are now over, she said. This year, the Nova Scotia resident has avoided even passing through the US on her way to Ontario, a shortcut for an otherwise 18-hour drive.

Since President Donald Trump took office earlier this year, the 62-year-old said she and most of her Canadian friends have decided to stop visiting the US as a way of protesting policies they oppose and trade actions Trump has taken against Canada.

There are so many things that we just feel aghast about in terms of how [the administration] is acting internationally, behaving toward their own citizens, how they're treating their allies and neighbors, i.e. Canada, Ms. Gammon said.

Ms. Gammon and her friends are part of a trend that shows no signs of slowing. October marked the 10th straight month of decline in the number of Canadian travelers to the US. Air travel from Canada to the US dropped nearly 24%, while car travel fell more than 30% when compared to the same period last year, according to data released this week by Canada's statistics office.

Overall, the US has seen a 3.2% drop in international spending in the country, driven primarily by fewer visitors from Canada, according to the US Travel Association, a nonprofit group representing the American travel industry.

As relations between the two countries remain icy, mostly in response to new tariffs Trump has imposed, Canadians are apparently committed to giving their southern neighbors the cold shoulder.

In the past, Canadians have made up about a quarter of all international visitors to the US, spending over $20bn (£15.1bn) a year, according to the US Travel Association.

They began to curb their US travel after Trump imposed a series of tariffs on goods from the country earlier this year, saying he wanted to reduce the trade deficit - the gap between the value of goods the US buys from Canada and those it sells to them. Trump also said Canada should do more to reduce the flow of illegal drug fentanyl into the US.

Canada is currently facing 35% tariffs on its goods - although most are exempt under an existing North American free trade agreement - as well as individual levies targeting particular industries like car and steel manufacturing.

Trade talks between the two countries were derailed last month when Trump was angered by an anti-tariff advertisement in the US that featured Ronald Reagan and was sponsored by the province of Ontario.

Meanwhile, he has angered Canadians with his many public comments about making their country the 51st state.

Some popular tourist destinations in the US have tried to buck the trend, attempting to entice Canadian travelers back to the US. In Kalispell, Montana, home to Glacier National Park, officials have been offering a Canadian Welcome Pass that includes deals and discounts at local businesses for those crossing the border.

For the last several months, our countries have been going through some things. But there's one thing we know and it's this – we miss you, the website for the welcome pass says.

Major events scheduled to take place in the US in the coming years could help drive visitors from other places and replace the missing Canadian tourists, including the FIFA 2026 World Cup and the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, according to the US Travel Association.

Still, with Canadians choosing to travel closer to home, the country's own tourism industry has gotten a boost. Canada's tourism sector made a record-breaking C$59bn from May to August of 2025, up 6% from the same period last year, mostly because of people choosing to travel domestically, according to Destination Canada, a national tourism organization.

Some of those choosing to stay home are Canadian snowbirds, retirees who travel south to states like Florida to find warmth in the winter months. A survey from the Travel Health Insurance Association of Canada found these baby boomers were staying home more than other age groups, with only 10% planning US trips for this year, down 66% compared to last year.

Ms Gammon said some of her friends have even chosen to sell their winter homes in Florida because of the frosty relations and frustrations with the Trump administration.

They've completely changed their snowbird plans, the semi-retired family physician said. You can feel there's a shift.

Ms Gammon said she did not know if others would stick to boycotting the US for the remaining three years of the Trump administration. But, even though she misses her US trips, that is her plan for now.

Who knows what could change between now and three years, Ms Gammon said. But it would have to be pretty significant changes for us personally to change our minds.