Canada is still embroiled in a trade war with the United States. Trade uncertainty and tariffs imposed by the United States on certain Canadian products such as aluminum and steel continue threaten the Canadian economy.
However, there is one sector in which Canada emerges as a clear winner: tourism.
US President Donald Trump’s divisive policies, tariffs and increased border security have helped fuel a decline in international tourism spending in the United States.e, polls and industry experts suggest an increase in Canadian patriotism and perceptions of Canada as a safe and friendly destination have helped fuel an unprecedented summer for tourism in the country.
“Because they’re putting up higher and higher barriers, it’s getting harder and harder to go to the United States. So you start looking for alternatives, and Canada is a reasonable alternative,” he said. Wayne Smith director of the Institute of Hospitality and Tourism Management at the Metropolitan University of Toronto.
“In this case, Canada benefited greatly.”
The United States loses Canadian dollars from tourism
The Trump administration had suggested that 2025 would be a banner year for tourism. The U.S. International Trade Administration announced in August that during the first six months of 2025, annual spending by international visitors rose 2.2 percent.
“President Trump has revitalized our country,” Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick said in a statement at the time. “With historic prosperity and President Trump’s focus on public safety, people from around the world are coming to visit us in record numbers.”
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But a deepening decline in Canadian visitors to the country, which began when Trump took office in late January and launched his trade war, has finally begun to take its toll.
Overall, between February and October, the number of return trips by Canadians to the United States decreased band 21 percent for air travel and by a staggering 33.5 percent for land travel, according to Statistics Canada data provided to CBC News.
The U.S. Travel Association, a nonprofit industry organization, now paints a less-than-stellar picture for 2025: It is predicted a 3.2 percent decline in international tourism spendingng in the US compared to 2024: a loss of US$5.7 billion.
The association largely attributes the decline to fewer Canadian tourists. Canadians traditionally make up the largest group of international visitors to the U.S., totaling 28 percent of its 72.4 million visitors in 2024.
“We are being decimated, our border communities in particular, by the lack of Canadian tourism,” said Laurie Trautman, director of the Border Policy Research Institute at Western Washington University in Bellingham, Washington.
He notes that the drop in spending comes just a few years after a catastrophic drop in tourism during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“A lot of those companies recovered and now they’re back down,” Trautman said. “So it’s an incredible cost.”
Travel by Canadians to the United States has declined sharply since President Donald Trump took office earlier this year. Andrew Chang breaks down the numbers to explain the impact on the American economy and how many American companies are trying to win back Canadians. Images provided by The Canadian Press, Reuters and Getty Images
a new Angus Reid Survey suggests that the Trump Administration has played a central role in the decline. Of 1,607 Canadians surveyed in late October, 77 percent said they view the United States more negatively as a travel destination this year compared to previous years.
The main reasons respondents gave for avoiding the country included a determination to defend Canada (in response to the trade war as Trump called Canada the 51st state), aand concerns about the political climate and U.S. border security.
Those concerns have been fueled by Stricter entry rules for some Canadian visitorshe recent arrest of several foreigners on the border with the United States and dramatic video showing U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) arresting people as part of Trump’s immigration crackdown.
“Tourism is very much a safety-based industry,” Smith said.
“[Canadians] “They are not sure when they will cross the border if they will have to carry their passport with them because of ICE,” he said. “If we add to that some of the political components, the United States seems like a destination that people are going to stray away from.”
The rise of tourism in Canada
America’s loss has become Canada’s gain, as many Canadian and foreign visitors opted to spend their vacation dollars north of the 49th parallel this year.
Destination Canada, the country’s tourism organization, estimates total tourism revenue year over year for The lucrative summer season from May to August increased by an unprecedented $3.3 billion (six percent).
Part of that boost came from domestic tourism, which increased seven percent.
“There are a lot of people watching [the U.S.] and thinking, ‘I can stay in Canada and make a really positive contribution to Canadian society,'” Smith said. “There was kind of a perfect storm to make domestic tourism really pick up, and powerfully, in Canada this year.”
An Angus Reid poll backs that up. of 1,075 Canadians surveyed by Angus Reid in early June26 percent said they changed, postponed or canceled travel plans to the United States this year. Of those surveyed, the majority said they chose to travel within their own province (44 percent) or to another Canadian province (30 percent).
The survey was commissioned by Moneris, a Canadian payment processing company.
This past summer will be unforgettable for many hotels and tourist attractions across the country. CBC’s Kyle Bakx breaks down new numbers showing the tourism industry hit all-time highs, despite a decline in revenue from American visitors.
Fewer Americans visited Canada this summercausing a 1.7 per cent decline in its tourism dollars, Destination Canada data shows. But an increase in foreign tourism helped offset it.
Year-over-year data provided by Statistics Canada shows that foreign visitors to Canada between May and August increased 2.4 per cent. And according to Destination Canada, their spending shot up 10.4 per cent.
A online survey A survey of 1,560 people in the United Kingdom, France and Germany in May suggests that the Trump administration influenced their travel patterns.
Just over half (52 percent) said they were more likely to visit Canada because of the current political climate in the U.S. On top of that, more than 90 percent said they viewed Canada as a friendly and safe place to visit.
The survey was conducted by Context Research Group (CRG), the research partner of Ontario travel organization Destination Ontario. Respondents were surveyed shortly after several germansfurther a welsh backpacker were fromdetained at the border with the United States, and Trump threatened Europe with radical tariffs.
“We’re tangentially benefiting from that kind of political climate that’s happening right now in the United States,” said William Schatten, co-founder of CRG.
“Canada is seen at this time as a priority destination for [Europeans] because there is a feeling of security and being friendly.”
Numerous Canadian snowbirds crossing a land border into the U.S. were told they must be photographed and fingerprinted as part of a new registration process.
What about 2026?
The U.S. Travel Association predicts international travel will rebound in 2026, driven by U.S. lodging. FIFA World Cup Soccer Games in summer, and the celebrations of the country’s 250th anniversary.
The travel association has also expressed concern about a new rule introduced by the Trump administration that could further hamper tourism.
The United States plans to implement a $250 “visa integrity fee” for visitors who need a nonimmigrant visa to enter the country.
That means Canadian citizens will be exempt, but not Canadian permanent residents or Mexican citizens. Mexicans made up the second largest group of the 72.4 million visitors to the US in 2024, totaling 23.5 percent.
Visitors may be able to collect a refund once their visa expires, but there are few details on how the process will work.
“Increasing fees on legal international visitors amounts to a self-imposed fee,” said U.S. Travel Association President and CEO Geoff Freeman. in a July statement.
“These fees…do nothing but discourage visits at a time when foreign travelers are already concerned about the welcome experience and high prices.”
Canada also welcomes FIFA World Cup games, which could give the country another tourism boost in 2026.
