The next front in Canada's trade war against the US is played out at airports, gas stations and gift shops as Canadians cancel a massive amount of American holidays.
Both aviation and land travel have been affected as neighbors in the Northern US protest the impact of tariffs on the country's economy. The American Travel Association estimates this is an attack that could cost the US economy $2.1 billion and 14,000 jobs.
Montreal's Carlo Talini traded his family's April holidays in New York City for the Bahamas instead.
“We're angry like hell and we're not going to take it anymore,” Talini told the post, adding that as far as his family's trips go, the US has been wiped out from the map for the next four years. Ta.
For Talini, President Donald Trump's threat to impose a 25% tariff on Canadian imports and the impact it has already had on the country's economy, after the Canadian dollar returned two years after its announcement, 30 Only a little on the news of a day's grace.
“He's threatening our economy,” Talini said. “It's a family decision and we're stuck with it.”
Quebec's education minister is urging 10th graders planning their annual stay from Montreal to the Big Apple to rethink their plans.
“We're all on the frontline,” Bernard Drenville told the Quebec Legislature earlier this month.
Schools in Quebec and Manitoba are subsequently traded on trips to the Imperial Provinces of Toronto.
In a letter to her parents, Nancy Pake, general secretary of Mons Ett Maré's School Services Center, cited “a decision by the US government that could have a major impact on parents' employment.” If the tariffs go further, they will be lost.
For others, it is pure shaming that the joke in Canada is the 51st American state.
“Every time we spent more annexation threat days, our family decided that we had to cancel Florida's March break,” says Reddit, where Canadians trade our boycotts. The group wrote about her self-proclaimed “Angry Canuck” and her mother of four.
Travel rebellions have already had an impact.
According to Westjet, Canadian Airlines is considering cutting flights to the US this spring, facing a drop in demand of around 25% this spring.
According to Statistics Canada, the number of Canadians returning from the US by car fell by car, down around 15,000 in January, the first decline since the pandemic.
Florida is a state where you can feel pain. It is a beloved Canadian traveller and has many retirees. As they are known, “snowbirds” spend the winter in the sun's rays. The Fort Lauderdale area is washed away, especially with Canadians, with many returning to the same location after winter. This year, the area was expecting between 1.3 million and 1.5 million Canadian visitors, spending between $950,000 and $975 million.
“Canadian snowbirds are just part of the fabric of this community over the winter, and have been around for decades for at least 50 years,” Stacy Ritter, CEO of Visit Lauderdale, told The Post I spoke.
Ritter said she's already feeding emails from regulars explaining why she's not already back.
“Gut Punch” felt like Ritter's lament. “It makes me want to cry.”
The owner of Maple Leaf Tour, which sells package group trips north of the 49th parallel, said that a “surprising” number of vacationers have cancelled their US tour this year.
“It's gotten worse across the industry,” Christine Geary said.
She estimates a loss of hundreds of thousands of dollars, with 40% cancellations in the US.
“I've never seen this,” said Geary, whose family has owned the business for over 30 years.
Meanwhile, Americans have not boycotted Canada travel.
According to Statistics Canada data, the number of US travelers to Canada in January was 707,000, up more than 23% from the same month last year.
That same Reddit group has seen occasionally ask if it's okay to visit Canada.
“I'm all Americans coming and supporting us!” I'm writing one Kanak.
“Don't joke about being in the 51st state. I'll lose my s***.”
