As Canadians avoid the U.S., the face of summer tourism is forever changed
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- Cross-border trips from Canada to 267 U.S. cities fell 42% year-over-year between April 2025 and March 2026, per a University of Toronto's School of Cities study using anonymous cellphone data.
- The Canadian boycott has cost the U.S. economy an estimated US$4.5-billion and roughly 300,000 jobs, according to Forbes citing U.S. Travel Association data — described as potentially the largest single-country tourism decline in U.S. history.
- Canadian airlines cut U.S.-bound flight capacity by nearly 10% (about 450,000 seats) in Q1 2026, and Air Transat has suspended all U.S. flights this summer.
- T.J. Rule's Golf Away Tours saw U.S. bookings collapse from 13% of total in 2024 to 0.05% in 2026, with zero 2027 advance bookings, as clients pivot to Portugal and Spain.
- Domestic Canadian tourism spending hit a record $59-billion between May and August 2025, a 6% increase over 2024, with new agri-tourism ventures emerging as farmers convert properties into accommodations.
- Destination Canada projects total tourism revenue will reach $216.3 billion by 2035, up 67% from 2024, fueled partly by Americans increasing visits north by more than 5% annually.
Why it matters: The U.S. tourism sector absorbs an estimated US$4.5-billion hit and roughly 300,000 jobs lost to a boycott driven by political defiance, not price. Meanwhile, Canada gains a structural tourism pivot — domestic spending up 6%, farmers diversifying into agri-tourism, and total revenue projected to climb 67% by 2035.
