Northwestern Ontario businesses brace for tariff impact

CBC News

· Posted: Mar 25, 2025 6:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 7 minutes ago

As the United States and Canada descend into a commercialized war, immoderate northwestern Ontario businesses adjacent the borderline accidental they're disquieted they'll beryllium caught successful the crossfire.

"Northwestern Ontario is highly babelike connected US travelers," said Gerry Cariou, Executive Director of the Sunset Country Travel Association.

One of the biggest section economical drivers is fishing, hunting and different outdoor-related tourism, helium said. Roughly 9 retired of 10 guests who question to the Kenora area to enactment astatine lodges are from the United States, said Cariou.

"The selling enactment of a emblematic sportfishing oregon hunting lodge successful this country of Ontario is exclusively directed astatine Americans," helium said. 

Americans person traditionally been the superior marketplace for sportfishing lodges due to the fact that of their proximity to the border, which makes it person for galore Americans to get to Kenora than it would beryllium for the bulk of radical surviving successful ample Canadian cities. Canadians surviving wrong a day's thrust of Kenora usually person their ain camps, and aren't arsenic incentivized to enactment astatine a sportfishing lodge with a guide, said Cariou.

Cariou said he's acrophobic the tariffs connected bringing items similar groceries oregon substance implicit the borderline to Canada whitethorn dissuade Americans who mightiness different beryllium funny successful visiting.

"It's going to perchance pb to cancellations by radical who respond negatively to it. So I could spot this having a antagonistic interaction connected tourism successful 2025 play successful Ontario," helium said. 

Cariou said it's bittersweet relations betwixt the 2 countries person degraded to the constituent that it could interaction radical and businesses. 

"Tariff wars are not the reply to solving commercialized issues, successful my opinion," helium said. 

Impact felt by section businesses

Business owners could besides consciousness the tariffs deed their ain wallets directly, said Ted Putnam, proprietor of Hawk Lake Lodge successful Northwest Ontario.

Putnam, who is American, said helium usually brings $20,000 to $40,000 of supplies for the summertime implicit the borderline with him astatine the commencement of each season. Often this includes products that are hard to procure successful Canada, helium said.

"There are a batch of things arsenic concern owners successful Northwest Ontario that we don't truly person a choice, we person to bargain them. So a batch of products are coming from the States, whether they're specialized products for boats, engines, electronics, room appliances, whatever," helium said.

Putnam said he's had to trim what he's bringing this twelvemonth due to the fact that of however costly the tariffs are. 

While helium doesn't expect the tariffs connected items brought into Canada to origin guests to cancel, helium said different factors related to the commercialized warfare could marque Canada little appealing to visit.

"It's not adjacent the money, but besides the imaginable summation successful times to transverse the borderline and hold times. These tiny borderline crossings, whether it's Baudette oregon International Falls, they're not truly acceptable to handle looking astatine each car coming successful and having them travel into the borderline crossing presumption and instrumentality attraction of a tariff connected $200 worthy of potatoes and oranges and eggs," said Putnam. 

He said he's not disquieted astir hostility betwixt the 2 countries impacting guests hoping to enactment astatine his lodge.

"This isn't betwixt Americans and Canadians. It's truly betwixt benignant of the 2 governments that are having this issue. Because Americans are decidedly invited up successful Canada," Putnam said.