✈️ Canadians Continue to Shun U.S. Travel
Sept 25, 2025
A local story by Buffalo Toronto Public Media reported that Canadians continue avoiding the United States in droves — August automobile trips were down 34% and air travel down 25% year-over-year (BTPM). Clearly, tariffs, stricter immigration enforcement, and rhetoric about Canada as a “51st state” continue to motivate travellers to seek alternative destinations.
Indeed, many Canadians are choosing to travel within the country, or to go to Mexico, the Caribbean, or Europe instead. This, despite the fact that U.S. border communities are offering perks such as at-par exchange rates and discounts.
Our Take
Clearly Trump's rhetoric has hit a nerve (you think)? As a personal example: I have an academic conference that my students and I commonly attend every May, this year hosted in Dallas, Texas, and several of my students have already asked what our policy is going to be for attending this year. It's a tricky situation, as I need to balance my own political predilections with my student's training needs. In the end, I'll allow them to make their own choice, but what's evident is that these issues are very much top of mind.
On a different note: as Canadians increasingly opt for non-U.S. destinations, the travel industry will have to adapt to these changing preferences. Canadian airlines, for instance, reap much of their revenue from Canada/US travel, and will have to find other ways to sustain operations.
Other stories from this week: