The next front in Canada’s trade war against the US is being waged in airports, gas stations and gift shops, as Canadians cancel their American vacations en masse, The Post has learned.
Both air and land travel have been impacted, as the US northern neighbors protest the impact of tariffs on their country’s economy — an offensive that could cost the American economy $2.1 billion and 14,000 jobs, the US Travel Association has estimated.
Carlo Tarini from Montreal traded his family’s April vacation to New York City for the Bahamas instead.
“We’re mad as hell and we’re not going to take it anymore,” Tarini told The Post, adding that the US is wiped off the map for the next four years as far as his family’s travels are concerned.
For Tarini, what did it was US President Donald Trump’s threat to impose 25% tariffs on Canadian imports, and the impact it’s already had on the country’s economy – the Canadian dollar tumbled to a two-decade low after the announcement, before going back up only slightly at the news of a 30-day reprieve.
“He’s threatening our economy,” said Tarini. “It’s a family decision and we’re sticking with it.”
Quebec’s Minister of Education has even urged 10th graders — who plan annual sojourns from Montreal to the Big Apple — to rethink their plans.
“We are all on the front lines,” Bernard Drainville said earlier this month at Quebec’s National Assembly.
Schools in Quebec – and also in Manitoba – have since traded in trips to the Empire State for the city of Toronto.
In a letter to parents, Nancy Paquet, general secretary of the Monts-et-Marées school service center, cited “decisions by the US government which could have a significant impact on the parents’ employment,” as the reason, referring to jobs that would be lost if the tariffs get the go-ahead.
For others, it’s the sheer insult of the jokes around Canada being the 51st American state.
“With each passing day of more annexation threats, our family decided we have to cancel our March break Florida trip,” wrote a self-described “angry Canuck” and mother of four in a Reddit group where Canadians trade tales of US boycott.
The travel rebellion is already having an impact.
Canadian airlines are considering cutting down on their flights to the US this spring in the face of a decreasing demand of around 25%, according to WestJet.
And the number of Canadians returning from the US by car has fallen by about 15,000 in January, the first drop since the pandemic, according to Statistics Canada.
Florida is one state that’s sure to feel the pain – it’s a darling of Canadian travelers, with many retirees – “snowbirds” as they’re known, spending the winters in the Sunshine State. The Fort Lauderdale area especially is flush with Canadians, with many returning to the same spots winter after winter. This year the area had been expecting between 1.3 and 1.5 million Canadian visitors, spending $950-975 million dollars.
“Canadian snowbirds are just part of the fabric of this community all winter long, and have been for decades – at least 50 years,” Stacy Ritter, CEO of Visit Lauderdale, told The Post.
Ritter said she’s already been fielding emails from regulars who explained why they’re not coming back.
It felt like a “gut punch” lamented Ritter. “It makes me want to cry.”
North of the 49th parallel, the owner of Maple Leaf Tours, who sells packaged group travel, told The Post an “alarming” number of vacationers cancelled US tours this year.
“It’s taken a turn for the worse across the industry,” said Kristine Geary.
She estimates US cancellations at 40%, and her losses in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
“I’ve never seen this,” said Geary whose family has owned the business for more than 30 years.
Americans, meanwhile, haven’t been boycotting Canadian travel.
In January, the number of US travelers to Canada by car was 707,000, up more than 23% from the same month last year, according to Statistics Canada data.
That same Reddit group sees the occasional American asking if it’s still okay for them to visit Canada.
“I’m all for Americans coming up and supporting us!” writes one Canuck.
“Just don’t make any jokes towards us becoming a 51st state. I’ll lose my s***.”
