Canadians Spent $3.3 Billion Less on U.S. Travel in 2025 After Trump’s Return

Canadians Cut U.S. Travel Spending by Billions

The decline followed the change in the U.S. administration in early 2025 and the implementation of America First policies, which caused Canadian travel sentiment to shift abruptly, according to the report. Authors of the report cited trade tensions, tariffs, and President Donald Trump’s repeated comments about annexing Canada as the 51st state as catalysts for the pullback. Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney told Trump during a White House meeting that Canada is “not for sale,” following Trump’s remarks.

Record-Setting Border Crossings Decline

Return trips to Canada from the U.S. declined year over year for 11 consecutive months in 2025, marking the longest sustained drop outside the pandemic era since digital record-keeping began in 1972. The highest travel declines were recorded in July 2025, when border crossings fell by about one-third from the previous year. Statistics Canada noted that declines of more than 30% had only previously been recorded in September 2001 following the World Trade Center attacks.

Data covering early 2026 indicates that the drop in leisure travel to the U.S. is continuing. Return trips to Canada from the U.S. are at similar levels seen at the end of 2025, which saw a 27% decline between October and December. However, Statistics Canada data from April through June suggest the downward trend may be easing, driven primarily by automobile travel while air travel continues to lag.

Shift Toward Domestic and Overseas Destinations

Rather than staying home, Canadians redirected their travel plans to other destinations. Canadian spending on travel abroad, excluding the U.S., grew by $3.6 billion in 2025 to a total of $22.8 billion. Canadian visits to Europe increased by nearly 14% compared to 2024, while visits to Asia increased by almost 17%.

The report from The Daily Beast noted that Canadians took roughly 5 million more domestic trips within Canada and 1.3 million additional trips overseas, offsetting the 7.1 million fewer trips taken to the U.S. in 2025. Meanwhile, a survey by the Pew Research Center revealed that the share of Canadians who described the U.S. as a reliable partner fell from 83% in 2022 to 35% in 2026.

Broader Impact on International Tourism

The downturn in visitors from Canada contributed to a wider cooling in international tourism to the United States. According to The Independent, the U.S. experienced a decrease in foreign visitors across multiple nations in 2025. Juliette Kayyem, faculty chair of the Homeland Security Project at the Harvard Kennedy School, stated that the long-term harm involves global perceptions of the United States.

Despite the broader global travel market expanding by 4.7% in 2025, U.S. international arrivals dropped by 5.5%, according to bloomberg.com. Researcher Tourism Economics estimated that the U.S. tourism industry lost out on as much as $16.6 billion in 2025 compared to pre-Trump market share projections.