Border bitterness is devastating cross-border tourism. But one Canadian city is bucking the trend
Those who travel by car between the U.S. and Canada at crossings like the Peace Bridge have grown accustomed to long wait times over the years, but drivers headed in either direction today rarely face delays.
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Those empty lanes signal a stark change: Cross-border travel has fallen to historic lows, surpassing even the slowdowns seen after 9/11 and the 2008 financial crisis.
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'We are currently seeing more extreme drops in travel by car than we did during those (earlier) crises,' says Laura Presley, an analyst at Statistics Canada, noting an 'abrupt shift' at the start of this year.
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U.S. President Donald Trump's trade war, his '51st state' rhetoric, and stricter immigration rules have sparked a backlash that has Canadians choosing to spend more at home, and less on American goods and travel.
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Americans, in turn, are less sure about being welcome up north, and everyone is dealing with economic uncertainty.
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It hasn't been easy.
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After 9/11, car travel to the U.S. by Canadian residents dropped by just over 30 per cent, and the 2008 financial crisis saw car travel drop by just under 23 per cent. Data released last week show this is worse than both: Canadian return trips from the U.S. by car in June dropped 33.1 per cent compared to June 2024, and that was the sixth consecutive month of decline. Canadian air travel to the U.S. also fell by 22.1 per cent in June.
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Canadians spent US$20.5 billion in the U.S. last year, and the U.S. Travel Association has warned that a 10 per cent drop in Canadian tourism this year could cost the American economy US$2.1 billion in spending and 140,000 jobs.
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The trend has hurt Canada, too, but not as badly. American car trips to Canada in June fell 10.4 per cent year-over-year, for a fifth month of decline. American air travel to Canada is down too, but only by 0.7 per cent in June.
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Anusha Arif, an economist at TD Economics, said her research points to a decline of up to 10 per cent in U.S. spending in Canada, which could add up to a $1-billion loss.
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