16-05-2025
Morning Update: A guide for Canadian wanderlust
Good morning. The Globe's annual Canadian travel guide hits a little closer to home this year. More on that below, plus a look at wildfires in Manitoba and movement on an Iranian nuclear deal … sort of.
Good morning, I'm Catherine Dawson March, I've been working on travel stories (amongst other editing duties) at The Globe and Mail since 2010.
'Nothing is really 'hidden' anymore, why don't you change the name?' is something I hear every year in the newsroom as I prepare our annual Hidden Canada feature for publication.
For starters, 'The Canada You Haven't Discovered Yet' isn't quite as punchy. But I'm also not convinced the naysayers have it right – this country is so darn big, most of us haven't explored much beyond our own province. It took me over 50 years of living in Toronto to drive through Northern Ontario – real Northern Ontario, not the two-to-three hour radius around the city considered 'cottage country.' (BTW, it's freaking gorgeous in Northern Ontario! And there's a lot fewer people.)
Our eighth annual Hidden Canada feature is a collection of towns and cities across the country – some you might already know, many you won't – all are worth visiting. (Last year's and other previous years' editions have just as many great destinations).
The 2025 compilation couldn't have come at a better time as many Canadians – irritated with the rhetoric and unsavoury news south of the border – are skipping those quick and easy trips to the U.S.
But I knew the tide was turning long before the flight numbers and official stats came out.
Never before have I heard from so many tourism reps and media relations firms about their U.S. destinations and clients. They've been working the phones and firing off a whole lot of emails to convince Canadians how much we are missed. Never before has a federal U.S. tourism executive wearing a maple-leaf pin taken me out for coffee to apologize for their government's disrespectful attitude toward my country's border.
Yes, it's an interesting time to be a travel editor in Canada. And that's why Hidden Canada is really hitting home this year. Canadians were forced to explore their own backyard during the pandemic border closures – but this year, many of us just want to.
Because while it may be cheaper to fly to Europe (from the East) or Asia, Australia and even, yes, Hawaii (from the West), maybe it's time to stay put. New Brunswick might be less exotic but the exchange rate is in our favour.
Plus, as I learned from Barbara Balfour's piece – Moncton's St. George Street is hipper and more historic than you might think.
And last summer, I discovered that just two-hours from the Manitoba border sits Ontario's biggest hidden gem: the enormous Lake of the Woods, where the summer homes and laid-back lake vibe rival anything in the much busier south. I mean, there's even a 1930s, 85-foot mahogany yacht that sails around its 14,552 islands – not to mention a floating coffee roastery.
This year in Hidden Canada, writer Vanessa Chiasson features an area of Nova Scotia known as 'Little Switzerland' and Chloe Berge explores a new type of Inuit-led tourism in Northern Quebec, among many other scenic spots.
Hidden Canada publishes around the May long weekend – Canada's official kick-off to summertime travel. But all year long, I keep an ear out for interesting corners of the country to consider for next year.
I'm always chatting up strangers and friends about where they've been and why because I've discovered that people who love travelling love to talk about it even more. Whether it's a humblebrag, a lost luggage sob story, the thrill of pushing physical limits or a travel nightmare they've learned to laugh about – it's all fodder for a good story. When I'm lucky, they'll agree to write about it.
Seizures of American guns at the Canadian border are on the rise, and during a tense time between our countries, collaboration is crucial to stop smuggling schemes.
At home: RCMP are investigating the deaths of two people as Manitoba wildfires continue to burn more than 4,000 hectares near Lac du Bonnet.
Abroad: President Donald Trump says the U.S. and Iran have 'sort of" agreed on the terms for a nuclear deal.
Buy in: A consortium of 36 First Nations is buying a minority stake in Enbridge Inc.'s B.C. natural gas pipeline network for $715-million.
Pay down: Ontario is forecasting a deficit of $14.6-billion, almost 10 times larger than it predicted last fall for the coming fiscal year, as it wrestles with U.S. tariffs.
