Practically 500,000 fewer travellers crossed the land border from Canada into the U.S. in February in comparison with the identical month final 12 months, in response to knowledge from the U.S. Customs and Border Safety (CBP), the newest signal that President Donald Trump’s taunts and tariffs have shaken bilateral relations.
The variety of travellers coming into the U.S. in a passenger car — the commonest approach to make the journey — dropped from 2,696,512 in February 2024 to 2,223,408 final month, reaching ranges not seen since cross-border journey normalized within the post-COVID-19 period.
The truth is, the variety of travellers driving over the U.S. land border is the bottom it has been since April 2022, according to CBP data. The Canadian authorities did not carry all travel-related restrictions, like testing and quarantine measures, until October of that year. The truth that the present circulation of travellers is on the similar stage as when journey was way more arduous is revealing, consultants say.
The info reveals there was a sudden reversal in February, simply as Trump was launching his trade war and ramping up his annexationist rhetoric about Canada turning into the 51st state.
The variety of cross-border travellers headed for the U.S. in October, November, December and January had been all nicely above the numbers reported for a similar month the 12 months prior — however in February there was a transparent break within the upward development.
Len Saunders is an immigration lawyer in Blaine, Wash., a city of about 6,000 individuals proper on the border with B.C.
He stated the decline in Canadian day trippers is clear at each flip in a city that caters to cross-border travellers.
“That is like COVID once more,” he stated in an interview with CBC Information. “With the rhetoric coming from Trump — individuals simply do not wish to come down right here.
“If you happen to’re not shopping for American liquor in B.C., you are undoubtedly not coming right here to avoid wasting 20 bucks on fuel. There’s simply an enormous discount in Canadians — you possibly can see it within the Costco parking zone, at Dealer Joe’s. Canadians are voting with their wallets proper now. That is what’s occurring,” he stated.
Saunders stated the 51st state taunts, the tariff threats and the experiences of Canadians being detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are all driving individuals away.
“We’re solely two months right into a four-year administration. In the event that they preserve this up there can be no Canadians coming down right here — there can be a 100 per cent boycott of this nation,” he stated.
Barbara Barrett is the manager director of the Frontier Responsibility Free Affiliation, a bunch that represents 32 independently owned duty-free retailers that dot the Canadian facet of the land border from coast to coast.
She stated the journey decline is “catastrophic” and the principally family-run shops she represents are seeing gross sales drop off dramatically.
She stated gross sales by no means actually recovered after the pandemic and now, with the latest disruptions, are down about 80 per cent in comparison with pre-2020 figures.
“With out hyperbole, it is a dire state of affairs. It’s totally worrying,” Barrett stated in an interview with CBC Information. “It is pandemic-level stuff for certain. It is dramatic — the borders are simply not seeing the visitors.”
The poor Canada-U.S. alternate price, which is partly pushed by Trump’s commerce insurance policies, has made jaunts over the border much less enticing for a lot of Canadian vacationers and bargain-hunting consumers.
However Barrett stated cross-border visitors declines will not be due to the dangerous alternate price — she thinks it is pushed by the anti-tariff sentiment that is led many Canadians to drop journey to the U.S. whereas the nation is on this combat with Trump.
“We have seen the greenback fluctuate up and down earlier than and we have not seen this type of dramatic decline,” she stated. “If it was all in regards to the greenback — we would have a flood of People coming over and we’re not seeing that.”
Past passenger automobiles, there are different indicators of a journey drop-off within the CBP knowledge.
The variety of truck drivers making the cross-border journey fell from 493,000 in February 2024 to 473,000 this 12 months.
There are comparatively few pedestrians crossing the border by foot within the lifeless of winter, however even these figures had been additionally decrease. CBP reported the variety of walkers fell from roughly 117,000 in February 2024 to 99,000 final month.
The variety of passengers travelling by air to the U.S. held regular and even elevated barely in comparison with the identical month final 12 months — 50,000 extra individuals made the journey — however even air journey hit a multi-month low.
Air journey is often booked weeks or months prematurely and is usually tougher to cancel than a day journey by land. Some airways have additionally since reported a slump in U.S. bookings.
Statistics Canada knowledge backs up what the CBP is reporting.
In February, the variety of Canadian residents coming back from the U.S. by car dropped 23 per cent in comparison with the identical month in 2024, according to the agency.
There have been about 1.2 million return journeys final month in comparison with 1.5 million the 12 months earlier than.
The federal company described these figures as a “steep” decline, akin to the drop-off registered throughout the well being disaster when cross-border journey floor to a halt.
There was additionally a decline in People coming to Canada by car, however the drop was not as dramatic, StatsCan discovered, with a 7.9 per cent droop recorded.
Trump first launched his commerce conflict with Canada on Feb. 1, which prompted former prime minister Justin Trudeau to reply with retaliatory tariffs and a name for Canadians to purchase native merchandise and journey inside Canada.
Trudeau urged individuals to “to decide on Canada” to ship a sign to the White Home that the nation will not stand for punishing tariffs which have the potential to torpedo the financial system.
“It’d imply altering your summer time trip plans, staying right here in Canada and exploring the various websites, nationwide parks and historic locations our nation has to supply,” he stated.
New knowledge reveals Canadians are taking fewer journeys to america, particularly by land, with many citing the political local weather underneath U.S. President Donald Trump as the highest cause for not crossing the border.
Trump has imposed 25 per cent tariffs on some Canadian items to supposedly spur motion on medication and migrants on the border. He later added one other tariff layer with a 25 per cent levy on metal and aluminum imports.
The president can also be anticipated to hit Canada with extra “retaliatory” tariffs on April 2.
Canada punched again with its personal countermeasures, which Prime Minister Mark Carney has stated will stay in place “till the People present us respect.”
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