‘Worth the hassle’: Canadians along the border continue to travel to U.S. to save on gas, meat

Some New Brunswickers travel to Maine to buy cheaper products.

A recent uptick in the number of vehicles travelling from Canada to the United States isn’t much of a surprise to some St. Stephen, N.B., residents, who never stopped crossing the border into Calais, Maine for cheaper products, especially gas.

“To fill up my car in Canada it’s about $70,” said Leigha Stewart, a Canadian resident getting gas in Calais on Tuesday. “To fill it up over here it’s about $50.

“It’s just so much cheaper over here and worth the hassle to me.”

Nearly every vehicle at the Hardwicke’s Country Store’s gas pumps on Tuesday afternoon had a New Brunswick licence plate. The gas station, located next to the U.S. Customs in Calais, was selling regular unleaded gasoline for $1.42 a litre Canadian.

“Where I live in St. Stephen, it’s actually closer for me to come here than the gas station in town,” said Canadian resident Rick Croft, who was filling up his vehicle on Tuesday. “It’s just the price difference.”

Canadian licence plates could also be found at other Calais stores on Tuesday, albeit fewer when compared to gas stations. CTV News Atlantic spoke to some Canadian shoppers outside a Calais grocery store, who said they often cross the border to purchase specific U.S. items which cost less, including meat.

As one example, boneless chicken thighs at the Calais IGA cost about $22 Canadian in the U.S., compared to nearly $38 in Canada.

The gap in certain price points, along with the approach of summer tourism’s primetime, has recent numbers from Statistics Canada and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection being closely watched, showing a slight increase year-to-year in cross border traffic. The meager turnaround began this past spring and is the first showing of a year-to-year reversal since U.S. President Donald Trump returned to the White House in January 2025.

Last year, Maine Gov. Janet Mills ordered the instillation of highway signs welcoming Canadian visitors, with cross-border traffic making up about 40 per cent of tourism numbers in parts of the state.

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