Canadians escalate travel boycott against the United States

Boycotting the Land of Trump

August continued to witness a decline in American travel to Canada, exacerbating the ongoing trend, according to preliminary government data. This month's decrease in cross-border trips, compared with August last year, marks the eighth consecutive monthly decline, indicating that the downward trend might be more than just a temporary dip.

Digging in their heels

Canadians aren’t simply changing vacation plans; they’re making a statement. Each dip in traffic underscores a growing resolve to keep their dollars out of the U.S., a quiet but pointed rebuke of America’s political climate and its leadership.

The mistakes that the US President made

US President Donald Trump probably didn’t understand what kind of terrible damage he would inflict on the United States when he began attacking Canada’s economic viability and the country’s sovereignty, with his tiresome tariff and 51st state threats.  

Canadians took Trump’s rhetoric to heart

Canadians took Trump’s rhetoric to heart and saw the President’s policies and words as a betrayal of the special relationship that the two countries have had for decades. Boycotts quickly followed, the chief among which was a growing desire to avoid vacationing in the US.

A worrying poll foresaw the trouble ahead

In April 2025, polling from Longwoods International found that six in ten Canadians said that they planned to avoid travel to the United States because of the political climate the US President had fostered with his tariff and his 51st state threats. 

The backlash should have been anticipated

The resulting backlash should have been accounted for by the US. Some organizations did try to warn the country that things could get bad if the amount of Canadians traveling to the United States fell by even a paltry ten percent of 2024's figures. 

What the US stood to lose from Canadians

According to a February 2025 press release from the US Travel Association, the United States was staring down the barrel of a possible $2.1 billion loss in revenue and 14,000 job losses if 2 million fewer Canadians visited the US in 2025. 

America’s top source of international travelers

The US Travel Association noted that 20.4 million Canadian visits to the United States in 2024. All that travel generated $20.5 billion worth of spending. A large portion of that money was set to disappear in 2025 if Canadian travel dropped off, and it did. 

What Canada’s August travel data revealed

Preliminary data from Statistics Canada published in September revealed that August was the eighth consecutive month that travel to the United States declined in 2025, according to Forbes. While things weren’t as bad as July, they were still pretty nasty. 

Car trips were down by over one-third

Vehicle returns from the United States were down by 33.9% in August, with 1.9 million return trips. Statistics Canada’s report called this a “steep decline,” while Forbes noted that the government’s numbers from July showed returns were down by 37%. 

Air travel was down by a quarter

Air travel returns from the United States were also down significantly year-over-year in August. Just 423,100 air travel returns were recorded, which was a decline of 25.4%. In July, air travel returns to Canada from the US were down by 26% year-over-year. 

The top destinations for Canadians

According to the US Travel Association, Florida, California, Nevada, New York, and Texas were the five top destinations for Canadians in 2024. How each of these states has been affected by the travel boycott going on in Canada has yet to be fully seen. 

Tourism across Canada is booming

On the other hand, Canada’s travel industry has been booming since Trump took office. Data from the Canadian payment solutions provider Moneris, cited by CTV News, noted that 30% of Canadians decided to travel to another province this summer. 

Nearly half of Canadians traveled at home

Another 44% of Canadians traveled within their own province. However, while Canadians may be enjoying their country, the latest data from Statistics Canada shows that American travel to Canada by land dropped 5% in August year-over-year, while air travel dropped by 4%.

Americans visitors dropped in August

Despite the decline in American tourists, it appears that Canadians are making up the difference. Unfortunately, no one seems to be making up for the drop in Canadian tourists in the United States. Visitor numbers are dropping across the board. 

International travel to the US is way down

According to Axios, US Customs and Border Protection data shows that international air travel to the United States is down by 7% year-over-year in 2025. America might see a total drop of 8.2% based on a forecast from Travel Economics, and that would be bad. 

US losses from travel dollars will hurt

Forbes reported in July that Travel Economics previously found that the US was set to see a 9% increase in tourism in 2025. That figure translates to roughly $16.3 billion in revenue for the country. However, if the 8.2% proves accurate, the United States will lose big.