Navigating non-U.S. travel bookings to keep Canadian dollars at home
Travel agents say more Canadians are cancelling trips to the U.S. in favour of vacationing elsewhere, but Travel Group consultant McKenzie McMillan says dollars can still enter the American economy depending on which companies they book with. He advises a caller who booked a trip to Ireland through an American company to do a little research but tells BC Today guest host Amy Bell it can be unavoidable as operators for Western travellers use U.S. dollars as a default currency.
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Ottawa Citizen
an hour ago
- Ottawa Citizen
Canada to meet 2 per cent NATO spending pledge this year: Carney
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Vancouver Sun
an hour ago
- Vancouver Sun
Trump's new travel ban takes effect for citizens from 12 countries
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump's new ban on travel to the U.S. by citizens from 12 mainly African and Middle Eastern countries took effect Monday amid rising tension over the president's escalating campaign of immigration enforcement. The new proclamation, which Trump signed last week, applies to citizens of Afghanistan, Myanmar, Chad, the Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Haiti, Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen. It also imposes heightened restrictions on people from Burundi, Cuba, Laos, Sierra Leone, Togo, Turkmenistan and Venezuela who are outside the U.S. and don't hold a valid visa. The new ban does not revoke visas previously issued to people from countries on the list, according to guidance issued Friday to all U.S. diplomatic missions. However, unless an applicant meets narrow criteria for an exemption to the ban, his or her application will be rejected starting Monday. Travellers with previously issued visas should still be able to enter the U.S. even after the ban takes effect. Plan your next getaway with Travel Time, featuring travel deals, destinations and gear. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder. The next issue of Travel Time will soon be in your inbox. Please try again Interested in more newsletters? Browse here. During Trump's first term, a hastily written executive order ordering the denial of entry to citizens of mainly Muslim countries created chaos at numerous airports and other ports of entry, prompting successful legal challenges and major revisions to the policy. No such disruption was immediately discernible at Los Angeles International Airport in the hours after the new ban took effect. Haitian-American Elvanise Louis-Juste, who was at the airport earlier Sunday in Newark, New Jersey, awaiting a flight to her home state of Florida, said many Haitians wanting to come to the U.S. are simply seeking to escape violence and unrest. 'I have family in Haiti, so it's pretty upsetting to see and hear,' Louis-Juste, 23, said of the travel ban. 'I don't think it's a good thing. I think it's very upsetting.' Many immigration experts say the new ban is more carefully crafted and appears designed to beat court challenges that hampered the first by focusing on the visa application process. Trump said this time that some countries had 'deficient' screening for passports and other public documents or have historically refused to take back their own citizens. He relied extensively on an annual Homeland Security report of people who remain in the U.S. after their visas expired. Measuring overstay rates has challenged experts for decades, but the government has made a limited attempt annually since 2016. Trump's proclamation cites overstay rates for eight of the 12 banned countries. Trump also tied the new ban to a terrorist attack in Boulder, Colorado, saying it underscored the dangers posed by some visitors who overstay visas. U.S. officials say the man charged in the attack overstayed a tourist visa. He is from Egypt, a country that is not on Trump's restricted list. The ban was quickly denounced by groups that provide aid and resettlement help to refugees. 'This policy is not about national security — it is about sowing division and vilifying communities that are seeking safety and opportunity in the United States,' said Abby Maxman, president of Oxfam America, a nonprofit international relief organization. The inclusion of Afghanistan angered some supporters who have worked to resettle its people. The ban does make exceptions for Afghans on Special Immigrant Visas, generally people who worked most closely with the U.S. government during the two-decade-long war there. Afghanistan had been one of the largest sources of resettled refugees, with about 14,000 arrivals in a 12-month period through September 2024. Trump suspended refugee resettlement on his first day in office.
Toronto Sun
2 hours ago
- Toronto Sun
Ontario drops American banks from U.S.-dollar bond sale in first since 2011
Published Jun 09, 2025 • Last updated 6 minutes ago • 3 minute read Queen's Park in Toronto on May 12, 2025. CYNTHIA MCLEOD/TORONTO SUN Ontario left American banks out of a US-dollar bond sale for the first time in almost 14 years, choosing Barclays Plc as its foreign bank to help manage a $2 billion debt issue. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Canada's largest province sold 10-year bonds last week in a deal led by Barclays and three Canadian banks — BMO Capital Markets, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce and Bank of Nova Scotia. It's the first greenback bond issue for Ontario since early January, shortly before Donald Trump's inauguration. The last time US banks were not involved in a US-dollar bond sale by Ontario was July 2011, Bloomberg records show. Since then, the province has done about 40 such deals. Bank of America Corp. was involved in the January sale; Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. were the US banks on the one before that, in September. The deal 'was part of regular bond rotation and US banks were in no way deliberately excluded,' Colin Blachar, a spokesperson for Ontario's ministry of finance, said in an email. 'Bond issuance is run through the Ontario Financing Authority, which is an arms-length organization to government.' Questions to the OFA were referred back to the finance ministry. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Ontario Premier Doug Ford has expressed anger over US President Donald Trump's tariffs, which have hit key sectors of the province's economy. In March, after the White House unleashed its first wave of tariffs against Canada, Ford's government released a policy that restricts public-sector entities in procuring from US businesses. The government ordered US-made wine and liquor pulled from the shelves of alcohol stores and said provincial building projects would focus on using Canadian-made materials, as much as possible. But the policy doesn't specifically state that the Ontario Financing Authority can't give new business to US financial institutions. Ontario is the center of Canada's automotive industry, the home to assembly plants owned by General Motors Co., Honda Motor Co. and other manufacturers, and has large steel mills — sectors that have been specifically targeted by Trump in his tariff policy. The province's unemployment rate rose to 7.9% in May, up more than a percentage point from a year earlier. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. The province expects to borrow nearly C$60 billion ($43.8 billion) in this fiscal year to fund a growing budget deficit, and has said that as much as 30%, or nearly C$13 billion, may come from foreign markets. Other Canadian provinces are also expected to borrow more this year as an economic slowdown leads to wider budget deficits. JPMorgan has already lost 'a couple' of bond deals tied to the tariff uncertainty, with issuers opting for local banks instead, JPMorgan Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon said in April, without giving specifics. Ontario isn't the only province to break with American banks for foreign-currency bonds since the US began placing tariffs on imports from Canada earlier this year. In April, Alberta sold a €1.25 billion ($1.4 billion) bond without using Bank of America, a first in six years. That exclusion, which Alberta said at the time wasn't the result of a blanket ban, aligned with the broader provincial move to reject US goods and services. British Columbia, on the other hand, sold a $2.5 billion US-dollar bond on Wednesday using a syndicate group that included Bank of America and Citigroup. The western province also sold a euro bond with the help of JPMorgan late last month. 'Being an issuer in the US-dollar global bond market can include US banks among the lead managers and support competitive and efficient access to international US dollar investors, as well as strong secondary market performance,' a spokesperson for BC's finance ministry said via email. World Sunshine Girls Golf Canada Editorial Cartoons
