LDN - Business

Frustrated by Trump’s threats, some Canadians canceling trips to the United States

[February 22, 2025] By JIM MORRIS

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Making the trip from Vancouver to Seattle to watch baseball’s Toronto Blue Jays play the Mariners has been a tradition for Peter Mulholland and his wife, but not this year.

Mulholland was already frustrated over U.S. President Donald Trump's threats of crippling tariffs on imported goods from Canada and talk about the country becoming the 51st state. The final straw came when Trump referred to Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as a dictator.

“We were starting to get leery,” said the 69-year-old, semiretired Vancouver resident. “The tariffs he’s trying to do is going to hurt both countries, that’ll become evident eventually, but it’s going to hurt us more.”

Mulholland is one of a growing number of Canadian who are choosing not to vacation in the U.S. this year.

McKenzie McMillan, a travel consultant with the Vancouver-based Travel Group, said some of his clients have canceled trips that were already booked.

February is usually a busy month for the retail travel agency which specializes in both corporate and premium leisure travel as Canadians make plans for spring break vacations.

“We’ve seen a complete drop off in any new requests or new interest in U.S. travel,” said McMillan. “I’ve had no requests for travel to the United States for about two weeks.”

The Canadian dollar is currently worth about 30 cents less than its American counterpart, but McMillan said politics is the major reason why Canadians are balking at traveling to the U.S.

“The majority of the reason why we’re seeing people avoid the U.S. right now has to do with the tariffs and the 51st state comments,” he said. “Talk of the 51st state seems to be where people are making a much more firm decision about not going to the U.S.”

The U.S. Travel Association said Canada is the top source of international visitors to the U.S. In 2024 there were 20.4 million visits from Canada generating $20.5 billion in spending and supporting 140,000 American jobs.

The association says a 10% reduction in Canadian travel could mean 2 million fewer visits, $2.1 billion in lost spending and 14,000 job losses.

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Local youth skate with a large Canadian flag on the Rideau Canal to launch celebrations for the 60th Anniversary of the National Flag of Canada Day, Friday, Feb. 14, 2025 in Ottawa. (Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press via AP)

The top five most visited states by Canadians are Florida, California, Nevada, New York and Texas.

Air Canada, the country’s largest airline, said it currently is not seeing a reduction in travel to the U.S. but is monitoring the situation.

“We are anticipating that there could be a slowdown,” Mark Galardo, Air Canada’s executive vice president for revenue and network planning, said on a company quarterly earnings call last week.

WestJet, Canada’s second biggest airlines, said in the first few weeks of this year it has noticed an approximate 25% drop in demand for flights to the U.S. compared to last year.

“We believe this change is at least partially linked to the differences in currency exchange rates; however, we are actively reviewing and working with the Government of Canada on the potential impacts of tariffs, and we will continue to fly where there is demand,” the airline said in an email.

McMillan said the cruise industry may also feel an impact as Canadians may decide not to take trips that leave out of Los Angeles, Houston or Miami.

He has seen a shift to Canadians booking trips to Mexico, Europe, Iceland and Asia.

Mulholland said he and his wife haven’t decided where they will holiday this year.

“We probably will do a road trip of some sort and just explore parts of British Columbia that we haven’t been to before,” he said.

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