Canadians cancel U.S. travel plans amid anger over tariffs

Travellers wheel and carry their luggage through Trudeau airport in Montreal, Friday, Jan. 3, 2025. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes.

MONTREAL — Airlines and travel companies are seeing bookings to the United States plummet as Canadians rethink their plans amid anger over the trade war set off by U.S. President Donald Trump as well as a weak loonie.

Travel agency Flight Centre Travel Group Canada says leisure bookings to American cities dropped 40 per cent in February from the same month in 2024, while one in five customers cancelled their trips to the U.S. over the past three months.

“We’re making those choices to travel to destinations that really align more with our values,” said Flight Centre spokeswoman Amra Durakovic.

Air Canada announced last month it would reduce flights by 10 per cent to Florida, Las Vegas and Arizona starting in March — usually go-to hot spots during spring break season.

WestJet said in an email there has been a shift in bookings from the U.S. to other sun destinations such as Mexico and the Caribbean.

Canadians’ sudden aversion to their southern neighbour marks a backlash to the sweeping tariffs against Canadian goods — dangled as a threat since Trump’s first day in office, and put into effect at 12:01 a.m. on Tuesday — said Martin Firestone, president of Toronto-based insurance firm Travel Secure Inc.

He stressed the sense of betrayal by a country Canada considered its closest ally.

“This anti-Trump sentiment is really playing a huge role here, where people are saying, ‘I’m not going to the U.S., I’m just not going to travel there based on what he’s doing to us in Canada,’” Firestone said from Florida.

The rejection of U.S. trips comes amid a broader wave of economic patriotism in Canada, as consumers look to buy Canadian goods and services and avoid products from the country’s largest trading partner.

It also coincides with a surge in real estate listings from Canadians down south, particularly in Florida, as the low loonie drives up the cost of living while incentivizing home sales, which convert into big gains due to the strong U.S. dollar.

“It becomes very daunting for snowbirds, and that’s why we’re going to lose a bunch of them,” Firestone said.

Durakovic agreed that the currency gap was a key part of the equation.

She flew from Toronto to New Jersey’s Newark airport in January on a business trip to New York City, hopping in a cab on arrival to get to midtown Manhattan.

“By the time I paid for the tolls, my taxi and tip, it was 135 U.S. dollars for a 15-minute drive. That’s around 200 Canadian dollars. Who has that kind of money to spend on an airport transfer one way?”

The loonie has hovered around 70 cents US for the past few months.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 5, 2025.

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Christopher Reynolds, The Canadian Press