The staycation goes Canada-wide: Scrapped U.S. trips could be a domestic boon

Alexandra Mae Jones · CBC News

· Posted: Mar 13, 2025 4:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 11 minutes ago

A Kentucky autobus tour. A five-day cruise to Alaska. A multi-state roadworthy trip, already postponed erstwhile by COVID-19. 

These are conscionable a fistful of the trips to the U.S. that Canadian residents person cancelled successful caller weeks — costing hundreds oregon adjacent thousands of dollars — to walk their clip and wealth exploring Canada instead. 

"With everything going connected successful the United States astatine the moment, it doesn't beryllium good with maine to beryllium putting our hard-earned wealth into their economy," Michelle Gardner, a B.C. nonmigratory who precocious cancelled a U.S. outpouring interruption trip, told CBC News. 

"In the adjacent 4 years, we volition beryllium looking astatine spending our wealth present and exploring each that Canada has to offer."

The "Buy Canadian" question is increasing successful popularity, in the aftermath of U.S. President Donald Trump placing monolithic U.S. tariffs connected Canadian goods and repeatedly threatening to annex Canada. Provinces and territories are seeing accrued involvement from Canadian tourists — and they're looking to capitalize connected that momentum. 

That includes Nova Scotia, whose tourism board is readying a caller home advertisement run to "entice and inspire" question to the province, "leveraging existing sentiment astir Canadian vacations," a spokesperson said. Operators are already reporting accrued summertime bookings, they said.

At slightest seven provinces and territories shared with CBC News that they've seen accrued involvement from Canadian tourists successful caller months. 

"With that accrued nationalist pridefulness and consciousness of wanting to walk dollars here, there's a existent accidental to get much of our provincial residents and nationalist residents coming to antithetic parts of the province," Jonathan Potts, CEO of Tourism Saskatchewan, told CBC News. 

Canadians travelling Canada alternatively of the U.S.

Gardner had been looking guardant to her family's U.S. roadworthy travel for years. Originally slated for 2021, the travel would've helped her get 4 states person to her extremity of visiting all 50 earlier her 50th birthday. 

But alternatively of touring a abstraction centre in Alabama and mini golfing in Myrtle Beach, S.C., her household volition beryllium leaving aboriginal this period for a travel to Alberta, hitting attractions similar Elk Island National Park and the Marmot Basin skis resort. 

"The kids are precise excited to spell to West Edmonton Mall," the 42-year-old said. 

It wasn't an casual determination to cancel their trip, which outgo them $2,400 successful non-refundable bookings. And they would person spent different $4,000 during the travel — money that Gardner present prefers to spot invested successful the Canadian economy.

"I deliberation my principles are much important than my pouch astatine the extremity of the day."

For 66-year-old Brian Gallaugher, Trump's comments astir Canada were the "deal-breaker" that caused him to cancel a travel to Kentucky. A regular traveller to the U.S., helium besides scrapped plans for an upcoming household visit. His son, who lives successful the U.S., volition marque the travel up to Canada instead. 

"We conscionable find it truthful violative that Trump continues to speech astir [Canada becoming] the 51st state," helium told CBC News. "We truly don't program connected going backmost to the States until that benignant of rhetoric stops."

He was capable to use his deposit for the Kentucky travel to a Canadian bundle offered by the aforesaid company, which volition instrumentality him and his woman done eastbound Ontario and Quebec. 

"The circuit institution was saying that they were rapidly selling retired connected the Canadian tours."

Canadians person been progressively pulling their concern from the U.S. implicit the past fewer months. Data released by Statistics Canada connected Monday shows that the fig of instrumentality trips among Canadians travelling to the U.S. by car declined by 23 per cent twelvemonth implicit twelvemonth successful February. 

Provinces boosting ads for Canadian tourists

Meanwhile, some provinces and territories are ramping up their home tourism campaigns. 

Like New Brunswick, which is working to pull Canadians who person soured connected U.S. question plans. Yukon's government told CBC News that it's "diversifying promotional efforts for home markets," amid the accrued interest.

Tannis Gaffney, main selling serviceman for Travel Alberta, said that alternatively of caller advertisement campaigns, her squad is responding to the accrued involvement by trying to item niche attractions for Canadians.

"Off the beaten way is what we're hoping we tin payment from this summertime with accrued Canadians visiting the province."

Cities specified arsenic Kingston, Ont., person announced caller campaigns targeting travellers looking to enactment successful Canada. In Toronto, Ripley's Aquarium offered a 25 per cent discount for Ontario residents during February and offered a "No Tariff Tuesday" discount during this week's March Break.

Companies are hopping connected board, with Flair Airlines announcing caller flights betwixt Charlottetown and Toronto starting successful April, citing projections for weaker U.S. bookings and much interprovincial interest.

Canadian travellers already relationship for astir visitors to the provinces and territories — for instance, they make up a whopping 87 per cent of the visitors to Nova Scotia, according to the province. And with respective provinces reporting strong involvement from U.S. visitors coming to Canada arsenic the loonie remains anemic compared to U.S. currency, it's shaping up to beryllium a engaged play for this country's tourism industry. 

Tours and car rentals for the East Coast are "booking up accelerated close now," according to Amra Durakovic, caput of communications for Flight Centre Travel Group. 

Vancouver nonmigratory Barbara Mazzega encountered aggregate booked-solid hotels portion trying to publication a replacement travel to Newfoundland and Labrador recently. 

She and her hubby were meant to spell connected a five-day cruise to Alaska with immoderate friends. But erstwhile the menace of tariffs loomed successful February, they decided to alteration their plans — and the eastbound state had been connected their to-visit database for years. 

"We conscionable looked astatine each other, my hubby and I, and went, 'Yeah, no, it's conscionable not OK,'" the 60-year-old told CBC News. 

"We conscionable didn't privation to springiness a U.S. cruise vessel enactment — a U.S. thing — our money."

One metallic lining of U.S.-Canada tensions, she said, might beryllium that Canadians volition beryllium spurred to observe much of their ain backyards.

She hopes much provinces advertise their hidden gems to capitalize connected this moment. 

"I conscionable anticipation it tin beryllium a affirmative and that radical tin find immoderate of the amazingness. And it takes much than conscionable driving down the Trans Canada," she said.

"We person seen spectacularly beautiful, astonishing things that cipher adjacent knows is successful their ain province. People don't cognize determination was a volcano northbound of Terrace [in B.C.], and you tin spell spot past lava flows.

"It's each worthy seeing."