Some Canadians hitting pause on U.S. trips due to tariff threats and weak loonie

CBC News

· Posted: Mar 06, 2025 8:15 PM EST | Last Updated: 33 minutes ago

Roughly 140,000 radical a time are expected to walk done Toronto's Pearson airdrome during the busiest days of March Break, but immoderate Canadians who were readying to question to the U.S. person changed their plans.

Passenger bookings from hose and question companies amusement Canadians are cancelling their trips to the U.S. successful droves.

Ontario travellers interviewed connected Thursday say no longer privation to transverse the border because they're angered by the on-again, off-again U.S. tariffs and due to the fact that the Canadian dollar remains comparatively anemic against the greenback.

According to The Canadian Press, question bureau Flight Centre Travel Group Canada says leisure bookings to American cities dropped 40 per cent successful February from the aforesaid period successful 2024. One successful 5 customers cancelled their trips to the U.S. implicit the past 3 months, the study said.

Amy and Matthew Gleiser, residents of Paris, Ont., had planned to spell to Myrtle Beach successful South Carolina with their children for March Break. The travel was expected to past 10 days and the edifice was booked successful August. The mates cancelled the travel successful February and booked a household March Break travel to Mexico instead.

"With each of the tariff threats and this changeless 'Canada is simply a 51st state' — which we hatred — we conscionable decided that we truly didn't consciousness successful bully conscience that we could spell down to the United States and walk wealth and enactment an system successful a state that truly is retired to wounded america arsenic Canadians close now," Gleiser said.

On Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump imposed 25 per cent tariffs connected Canadian goods and a 10 per cent levy connected energy. On Wednesday, helium announced a month-long reprieve for the car sector. On Thursday, helium postponed 25 per cent tariffs connected galore Canadian goods.

Gleiser said it was disappointing to alteration question plans but she said it was the close happening for her household to do. Communities crossed Canada volition beryllium wounded by the tariffs, she added.

"It feels unsettling, and a small bit, we consciousness wounded arsenic Canadians. We conscionable consciousness truly taken aback that our system is nether onslaught by the United States for nary existent crushed but that Donald Trump has decided to bash that," she said.

"And that's truly each we tin bash is take wherever to walk our wealth and what to walk our wealth on. For an mean Canadian household similar ours, that's the lone happening we tin bash to combat back."

'For me, it has been building,' Toronto traveller says

Lisa Charters, a tennis instrumentality successful Toronto, said successful an interrogation that she cancelled a travel to Palm Springs, wherever she was going to ticker the BNB Paribas Open, besides known arsenic the Indian Wells Open. She decided to cancel the travel mostly owed to the anemic loonie, but besides owed to tariffs and anti-Canada rhetoric from Trump.

Her travel was booked successful September, but she's decided to spell alternatively to the National Bank Open successful Toronto successful August.

"For me, it has been building," Charters said. "This is simply a truly large deal. I can't adjacent ideate that Canada would beryllium portion of the United States. We are a wholly antithetic country," Charters said.

'Canadians aren't stopping travel,' adept says

Flight Centre spokeswoman Amra Durakovic said Canadians are choosing to spell to specified places arsenic Mexico, Aruba and St. Lucia, and countries wherever the dollar is inactive strong, including Japan and Australia.

Durakovic said they are besides readying "fly and drive" trips successful Canada, wherever they alert to a Canadian destination, past rent a car to instrumentality a roadworthy trip.

"Expand your horizons. We're seeing this arsenic an opportunity. Canadians aren't stopping travel. They're conscionable looking to different destinations," she said.

Air Canada announced past period it would trim flights by 10 per cent to Florida, Las Vegas and Arizona starting successful March — usually go-to blistery spots during outpouring interruption season. WestJet said successful an email determination has been a displacement successful bookings from the U.S. to different prima destinations specified arsenic Mexico and the Caribbean.

The fig of U.S.-bound flights from fund bearer Flair Airlines is down 24 per cent year-over-year for March, according to aviation information steadfast Cirium. Air Transat formation figures fell 12 per cent, portion Sunwing Airlines scrapped each its U.S. flights.

Sean Davidson, spokesperson for Toronto Pearson, said 1.31 cardinal radical volition nevertheless beryllium travelling done the airdrome during March Break. Close to 1,000 flights volition instrumentality disconnected and onshore a time astatine the airdrome connected its busiest days, helium said.

"It's going to beryllium busy, but we're acceptable to invited implicit a cardinal radical who are going to beryllium travelling implicit this adjacent week," Davidson said connected Thursday.