Cross-border trips to the U.S. reach COVID lows with nearly 500,000 fewer travellers in February

John Paul Tasker · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 18, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 9 minutes ago

Nearly 500,000 less travellers crossed the onshore borderline from Canada into the U.S. successful February compared to the aforesaid period past year, according to information from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the latest motion that President Donald Trump's taunts and tariffs person shaken bilateral relations.

The fig of travellers entering the U.S. successful a rider conveyance — the astir communal mode to marque the travel — dropped from 2,696,512 successful February 2024 to 2,223,408 past month, reaching levels not seen since cross-border question normalized successful the post-COVID-19 era.

In fact, the fig of travellers driving implicit the U.S. onshore borderline is the lowest it's been since April 2022, according to CBP data. The Canadian authorities didn't lift each travel-related restrictions, similar investigating and quarantine measures, until October of that year. The information that the existent travel of travellers is at the aforesaid level arsenic erstwhile question was overmuch much arduous is revealing, experts say.

The information shows determination was a abrupt reversal successful February, conscionable arsenic Trump was launching his commercialized warfare and ramping up his annexationist rhetoric astir Canada becoming the 51st state.

The number of cross-border travellers headed for the U.S. in October, November, December and January were each good supra the numbers reported for the aforesaid period the twelvemonth anterior — but successful February determination was a wide interruption successful the upward trend.

Len Saunders is an migration lawyer successful Blaine, Wash., a municipality of astir 6,000 radical close connected the borderline with B.C.

He said the diminution successful Canadian time trippers is evident astatine each crook successful a municipality that caters to cross-border travellers.

"This is similar COVID each implicit again," helium said successful an interrogation with CBC News. "With the rhetoric coming from Trump — radical conscionable don't privation to travel down here.

"If you're not buying American liquor successful B.C., you're decidedly not coming present to prevention 20 bucks connected gas. There's conscionable a immense simplification successful Canadians — you tin spot it successful the Costco parking lot, astatine Trader Joe's. Canadians are voting with their wallets close now. That's what's happening," helium said.

Saunders said the 51st authorities taunts, the tariff threats and the reports of Canadians being detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) are all driving radical away.

"We're lone 2 months into a four-year administration. If they support this up there volition beryllium nary Canadians coming down present — determination volition beryllium a 100 per cent boycott of this country," helium said.

Barbara Barrett is the enforcement manager of the Frontier Duty Free Association, a radical that represents 32 independently owned duty-free shops that dot the Canadian broadside of the onshore borderline from seashore to coast.

She said the travel diminution is "catastrophic" and the mostly family-run stores she represents are seeing income driblet disconnected dramatically.

She said income ne'er truly recovered aft the pandemic and now, with the caller disruptions, are down astir 80 per cent compared to pre-2020 figures.

"Without hyperbole, it's a dire situation. It's precise worrying," Barrett said successful an interrogation with CBC News. "It's pandemic-level worldly for sure. It's melodramatic — the borders are conscionable not seeing the traffic."

The mediocre Canada-U.S. speech rate, which is partially driven by Trump's trade policies, has made jaunts implicit the borderline little charismatic for galore Canadian tourists and bargain-hunting shoppers.

But Barrett said cross-border postulation declines are not due to the fact that of the atrocious speech complaint — she thinks it's driven by the anti-tariff sentiment that's led galore Canadians to driblet question to the U.S. portion the state is successful this combat with Trump.

"We've seen the dollar fluctuate up and down earlier and we haven't seen this benignant of melodramatic decline," she said. "If it was each astir the dollar — we'd person a flood of Americans coming implicit and we're not seeing that."

Beyond rider vehicles, determination are different signs of a question drop-off successful the CBP data.

The number of motortruck drivers making the cross-border travel fell from 493,000 successful February 2024 to 473,000 this year.

There are comparatively fewer pedestrians crossing the borderline by ft successful the dormant of winter, but adjacent those figures were besides lower. CBP reported the fig of walkers fell from astir 117,000 successful February 2024 to 99,000 past month.

The fig of passengers travelling by aerial to the U.S. held dependable and adjacent accrued somewhat compared to the aforesaid period past year — 50,000 much radical made the travel — but adjacent aerial question deed a multi-month low.

Air question is usually booked weeks oregon months successful beforehand and is mostly harder to cancel than a day trip by land. Some airlines person besides since reported a slump in U.S. bookings.

Statistics Canada information backs up what the CBP is reporting.

In February, the fig of Canadian residents returning from the U.S. by automobile dropped 23 per cent compared to the aforesaid period successful 2024, according to the agency.

There were astir 1.2 cardinal instrumentality trips past period compared to 1.5 cardinal the twelvemonth before.

The national bureau described those figures arsenic a "steep" decline, comparable to the drop-off registered during the wellness situation erstwhile cross-border question crushed to a halt.

There was besides a diminution successful Americans coming to Canada by automobile, but the driblet was not arsenic dramatic, StatsCan found, with a 7.9 per cent slump recorded.

Trump archetypal launched his commercialized warfare with Canada connected Feb. 1, which prompted erstwhile premier curate Justin Trudeau to respond with retaliatory tariffs and a telephone for Canadians to bargain section products and question wrong Canada.

Trudeau urged radical to "to take Canada" to nonstop a awesome to the White House that the state won't basal for punishing tariffs that person the imaginable to torpedo the economy.

"It mightiness mean changing your summertime abrogation plans, staying present successful Canada and exploring the galore sites, nationalist parks and humanities destinations our state has to offer," helium said.

WATCH | Canadians shunning question to United States, caller information suggests: 

Trump has imposed 25 per cent tariffs connected immoderate Canadian goods to supposedly spur enactment connected drugs and migrants astatine the border. He later added different tariff furniture with a 25 per cent levy on alloy and aluminum imports.

The president is besides expected to deed Canada with much "retaliatory" tariffs connected April 2.

Canada punched backmost with its ain countermeasures, which Prime Minister Mark Carney has said volition stay successful spot "until the Americans amusement america respect."