American cities have seen up to 65 percent drops in Canadian tourism amid President Donald Trump's tariffs and annexation talk.
that the decline spans more than just tourists and snowbirds. Washington and Ottawa have long been political allies on the global stage, but that relationship has been tested by Trump’s escalated rhetoric toward Canada.
His tariffs and annexation threats caused many Canadians to avoid travel to the United States, carrying economic consequences for cities and businesses dependent on tourism from Canadians. The new data reveals which cities have been hit hardest amid the Canadian tourism plunge.
Sun Belt and Northeast Cities See Largest Declines in Canadian Tourism The report from the University of Toronto’s School of Cities, authored by Karen Chapple, Yihoi Jung and Jeff Allen, analyzed cell phone activity data of Canadians in the U.S. The report compares data from April 2024 through March 2025 with April 2025 through March 2026. Overall, the researchers found a 42 percent decrease in Canadian visits to major U.S. metropolitan areas, higher than the 25 percent recorded by border crossing estimates.
That suggests the border crossing data is “not capturing” the full decline or that Canadians visiting the U.S. are traveling to fewer locations and spending less time across the border, the report found. But some areas have been hit harder than others. Cities in the Sun Belt, including popular tourism destinations, as well as those in the Northeast closer to the U.S.-Canadian border, saw the largest drops.
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, saw the largest decline in Canadian tourists at 65.4 percent, according to the report. The following cities rounded out the top 20:in a phone interview Monday. The new data indicates that areas like big cities with large financial and technology sectors have seen “dramatic” drops in Canadian activity, she said.
“They might be partly about tourism—of course Broadway in New York and San Francisco—but these are also areas that have deep economic connections to Canada,” she said. “What seems likely is that workers are making the decision not to do that work trip if you can just hop on a Zoom instead. ” Boycotts were initially “very deep,” though some data over the past month suggests there has been “some kind of a bounce back,” she said.
Still, it is unlikely there would be a larger reversal as long as the use of tariffs continues, she said.
“The Canadian government is opening up trade with China, India, with the EU in different ways. So then you’ll start to see business travel shift, and that’s what we’re starting to report in this data. ” The report “suggests that boycotts reported by the social media and news media actually worked,” Vivek Astvansh, professor of quantitative marketing at McGill University, toldHe said he hopes the decline is “fleeting” due to the country’s “deep ties.
” “The city-specific graphs show that the trend has mostly stabilized at low levels since October 2025. I expect the trend to stay low but stable until the new government takes office.
However, this suppressed trend may last longer than we expect if the U.S.-Canada relations do not become cordial again,” he said.found a 25 percent decline in travel. This has serious economic implications for the U.S. A U.S. Travel Association report from February 2025 found that Canadian tourism to the U.S. generated $20.5 billion and supported 140,000 jobs in 2024.
“A 10% reduction in Canadian travel could mean 2.0 million fewer visits, $2.1 billion in lost spending and 14,000 job losses,” that report reads. The U.S. and Canada have long been close economic allies, but that relationship has strained over the past few years. Just weeks after Trump’s victory in the 2024 presidential race, he said he would implement 25 percent tariffs on Canada and Mexico.
On January 20, 2025, the day he returned to office, he signed a memo urging Congress to “assess the unlawful migration and fentanyl flows from Canada” among other countries. In February 2025, Trump announced and then quickly paused tariffs on Canada after reaching a deal with Canadian leadership on border security.
“We pay hundreds of Billions of Dollars to SUBSIDIZE Canada. Why? There is no reason. We don’t need anything they have.
We have unlimited Energy, should make our own Cars, and have more Lumber than we can ever use. Without this massive subsidy, Canada ceases to exist as a viable Country. Harsh but true!
Therefore, Canada should become our Cherished 51st State. Much lower taxes, and far better military protection for the people of Canada — AND NO TARIFFS! ” he wrote to Truth Social on February 2, 2025.. , as the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative found that the U.S. exported $349.4 billion of goods to Canada in 2024, making Canada its largest export market.
According to a poll of 3,310 Canadians by the Angus Reid Institute between February 16 and 18, 2025, 85 percent said they were planning to replace or had already replaced U.S. products when shopping. Many Canadians opted against traveling to popular tourist destinations over the summer, as the annexation talk continues from time to time. Trump’s rhetoric has drawn scrutiny from Canadian officials. More than a year after the tariffs began, the boycotts could harden into longer-term consumer behavior.
"It's about taking back control of our security, our borders and our future," the prime minister said.
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