If you’re scratching your head, wondering why the President of the United States is attacking our ally, Canada, you’re not alone. Even my very conservative friends in both the U.S. and Canada don’t understand. Everyone I’ve spoken to has been perplexed by our administration’s rhetoric towards one of our nation’s closest friends and northern neighbors.
I live in Los Angeles but travel frequently to Toronto since it’s my wife’s hometown. I’m very familiar with crossing the border by both air and car. As well as making multiple plane trips to Canada, at least once a year, we drive to the state of New York, which is just over an hour from Toronto’s Pearson International Airport (YYZ).
I also have a lot of Canadian friends and family, so I have seen firsthand how Trump’s rhetoric is affecting the relationship between our two countries.
One way Canadians are showing their distaste for their current treatment by their southern neighbors is with their wallets. As soon as I saw Canadians unite (because they were almost as divided as the U.S.) I knew tourism and trade were in trouble.
The latest data released from U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) confirmed it. According to CBP data (see screenshot below), the number of travelers entering the U.S. in a passenger vehicle dropped from 2,696,512 in February 2024 to 2,223,408.
Five hundred thousand might not seem like a lot, but this is early into the administration and these numbers are only going to drop further as the weather gets warmer and Canadians ramp up their boycott of travel to the U.S. and American products.
What’s even more shocking is the decline in the number of air travelers; see screenshot below:
Airlines are cutting capacity. Low-fare carrier Flair Airlines announced they’re canceling seven U.S. routes.
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From Air Canada to WestJet, airlines are scaling back Canada–U.S. routes as demand for cross-border travel declines. Porter Airlines said it was cutting back on marketing US flights to Canadians as they didn’t want to seem “tone deaf” given the tariff dispute.
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If you look at social media, you’ll find countless posts urging Canadians to boycott the U.S. The U.S. Travel Association, a national non-profit organization, warned that “a 10% reduction in Canadian travel could mean 2.0 million fewer visits, $2.1 billion in lost spending, and 14,000 job losses.” They also warned, “the top 5 most visited states by Canadians—Florida, California, Nevada, New York, and Texas—could see declines in retail and hospitality revenue, as shopping is the top leisure activity for Canadian visitors.”
Caroline Beteta, President & CEO of Visit California issued a press release stating: “While international tourism has long been a cornerstone of California’s economy, new political and economic headwinds are testing that momentum. Travel isn’t tariffed, but our industry is not immune to the ripple effects. For the first time since the height of the pandemic, February arrivals data showed a year-over-year decline in international visitation to California. Among all international markets, Canada has been particularly affected. Canada is California’s No. 2 international market in terms of visitor spending, a reflection of our deep cultural and economic ties. Yet today, we’re seeing Canadian travelers hesitate—driven by a combination of political concerns, safety perceptions and economic pressures. Recent diplomatic rhetoric, reports of border detentions, and a weak Canadian dollar are all contributing to a slowdown in travel to the U.S., including California.”
Gavin Newsom, the Governor of California, just released a video and a campaign, trying to woo Canadians since he knows how much they mean to tourism. See his video below.
I just went on CBS Los Angeles to talk about Visit California’s campaign …
… and I was also recently quoted in the Los Angeles Times about whether Trump’s tariffs would affect travel plans to Canada. I said it would, and we’re already seeing it. My sister-in-law breezed through U.S. Customs last month, which normally would take 30 minutes or more. She also took a picture of her Air Canada flight to LAX, which had plenty of empty seats; see photo below.
Mark Davies, Wimberly Professor of Social and Ecological Ethics at Oklahoma City University wrote on Threads: “The United States tourism industry is about to take the biggest hit it has ever seen. No democracy loving and human rights loving person would want to spend their tourist dollars in a fascist country.”
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Former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau echoed this sentiment when he said: “Canadians are not angry at the American people for this. We don’t have anything against Americans; Americans are our neighbors, our friends … this is a policy decision by the American government designed to go after the Canadian economy. This is a trade war … we’re gonna choose to not go on vacation in Florida … and yeah, we’re probably gonna keep booing the American anthem. But let me tell Americans: we’re not booing you … we’re booing a policy that is designed to hurt us.”
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And if you encounter MAGA or Russian bots claiming it’s about drugs entering the U.S. and Canada needs to do more, read this. It’s also not about the weak Canadian Dollar since it’s been like this for years.
If you ask me, I truly believe this anti-Canadian rhetoric is about a few things: one, the way Melania looks at Trudeau (see screenshot below), and secondly, how the Canadians kicked the Trump Hotel brand out of Canada. I got married at the Trump Toronto, so I know the hotel well, but after Trump’s first term, they stopped going, and the owners were forced to get a new management company (St. Regis).
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It’s not just Canada the U.S. has to worry about either. Today, Bloomberg published a story stating: “Arrivals of non-citizens to the US by plane dropped almost 10% in March from a year earlier, according to data published Monday by the International Trade Administration. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. estimates in a worst-case scenario, the hit this year from reduced travel and boycotts could total 0.3% of gross domestic product, which would amount to almost $90 billion.”
Ninety BILLION dollars is a lot of money to be losing and for what reason? Sadly, I’m afraid the damage is done — especially for “red states.” I think it’s going to take much longer to repair our relationship—even after Donald Trump’s term ends because Americans didn’t do enough to stand up to his childish and dangerous rhetoric. Hopefully, this Visit California campaign helps rectify it.
How about you? Do you think the U.S. can repair its relationship with Canada?
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Visiting foreign countries is not going to be fun for Americans either as we’ll be asked to explain about our government what logically can’t be explained. How do you explain Congress going against the rule of law simply in order to get reelected. I have trips set up already and worry about getting a hostile reception just for my nationality. I guess I’m just not used to being one of the bad guys.